Come Back
by smileysoul
Summary: Sanji's convictions have ended up harming the crew more than he ever expected. Zoro can't stand the way the cook seems to slowly lose himself after this. Can he manage to bring him back? (Zosan and rated M for further chapters, just in case)
1. Chapter 1- Rage takes over

Zoro stood there, eyes wide open, clutching his swords for dear life, the moment frozen in front of his eyes.

"¡You fucking bastard I'm fucking gonna kill you!" the cook raged, flying next to him as if possessed, running to kick some ass. Well, not some ass. That bastard's ass.

And as he passed by him, everything went back to motion.

The swordsman could no longer take his sweet time to stare as a big powerful sword dragged both his katana and his attention to the hit aiming at his chest, blocking it just in time, the attack reverberating in his bones. Zoro growled lowly, much like a beast, and forced his enemy to retreat a bunch of steps so that he could have time to unshield Wadô and get serious as he placed the beloved white sword in his mouth in time to block another blow.

_Focus, _he ordered himself. But there went his eyes. Their navigator was lying on the floor, coughing something dark, sticky and disgusting. A flash of blond and his attention switched again. Sanji held his igniting leg against the bastard's weapon, putting all his strength in making him get away form Nami. He could see a pulsing vein on his neck, his muscles flexing, rage and hatred obscuring his eyes.

Yoong, that was the bastard's name, let out a bark of laugh and did as he was expected before letting go of his weapon and charging fists first against the blonde, who fell to his hands and let his legs go wild in a spinning inferno, clashing against Yoong, who grunted but managed to get a hold of his leg in mid-air, sacrificing his left side which was left open to Sanji's attack. But still, the big guy held his ground and forced his weight on the cook, who easily escaped from his grasp and put some space between them, panting.

I'm gonna shove my foot up your...

"¡COOK!"

Sanji felt something slamming against him and then he was violently thrown away only to feel his back crash against what was left of a wall, sending a wave of intense pain down his back. The cook only had time to hiss before a delicate but strong hand squeezed his neck and slammed him against the wall yet again. Sanji held his breath and swallowed his first instinct of kicking around. Only because this other persisting and now annoying instinct told him to stop and just not attack because...

"Not you..." he moaned.

Well, because she was a woman.

"Oh, yes, it's me indeed blondie", a brunette smiled almost touching his lips.

A cruel and senseless smile sent shivers down his spine, so dark it was. Lust for violence, lust for cruelty, that's all he could see in the beautiful woman's features. And that was really something to say, coming from him.

"Let me go", he begged.

He could just see Nami laying there, Yoong kneeled next to her and looking intently at him with a smile playing on his lips, teasing, as if saying "Should I kill her now? Should I make her suffer?" but still waiting, making the moment insufferable. Desperation owned him and he was already struggling, something he would have never done in some woman's hands. But there he was, fighting back yet not kicking, not being able to hurt her because, _dammit_, he fucking couldn't do it.

"¡Fucking let me go!" he roared sending his gentleman manners to hell. He was already damned.

The brunette smiled wider.

"Nope." she answered, amused. Then, not taking her eyes of Sanji's, " What should we do, Yoong? Should we start by pulling her wicked hair out of her head?"

Yoong smiled behind her and Sanji went wild.

"¡Don't you fucking dare!"

But then Yoong was sent flying, a punch still deforming his face when he touched the ground meters and meters away.

"¡Don't go hurting my nakama!" Luffy screamed, and charged against him.

He didn't even know where he had come from, he was supposed to be fighting elsewhere but hell if Sanji wasn't happy and relieved that he was there and already thinking of how much meat he'd need to cook to repay this. Because he had been utterly useless, he had to remind himself. He hadn't been able to get Nami out of there before Yoong pierced her stomach with his lethal weapon because he was being held down by that unnamed brunette who just kept smiling evilly. He hadn't been able to kick or push her away, had only been able to desperately watch as his beloved Nami fell to the ground screaming. He himself had screamed at the top of his lungs, making his throat go numb. And then he had found an opening, had run away from his captor and tried to defend Nami from a second attack just to be dragged back by the woman that was now squeezing the air out of his lungs, leaving marks on his neck. And he still couldn't do a damn thing. Yet, as Nami was now in good hands, he felt himself relax a little, fixing his eyes on the brunette's ones.

"Damn useless Yoong", she was muttering, imprinting her anger in her hold, which was tighter and tighter.

"You're evil" Sanji managed to get out of his mouth as he was being strangled, not even struggling anymore.

Nami didn't need him now, so no need to go against his nature. He would never kick a woman. And he had already failed the redhead. If that was what he had to face for not being able to protect his beloved ones, then so be it. He had always known that if he ever died fighting it'd be against a woman he wouldn't even have fought back. The thought made him smile at the irony. He could already picture the moss-head laughing in front of his grave for being too damn weak and the biggest idiot ever. Mocking him even when dead. If he even bothered visiting his grave, that is. Not that he would. The guy hated his guts just as much as he hated his and why the fuck was he even thinking about the damn marimo during his last breath?! He rushed his already numb and oxygenless mind to think about beaches and ladies and tiny swimsuits but then he heard the annoying voice:

"What the fuck are you doing cook?! Defend yourself!"

Sanji almost barked a laugh. Well, he would have if there had been any air left in his lungs. His vision went blurry. Dammit. Definitely not the last voice he wanted to hear.

Zoro retreated and launched again against his own enemy with a snarl on his face. What the actual fuck was the cook doing? Did he want to get himself killed or what? But he already knew no fighting back was going to happen. It was a woman after all. The one who had been fighting Nami before seeing through the cook and switching places with Yoong. And now that same woman had him pinned against a wall strangling him to death... If he wasn't already dead. Oh, no way in hell was he gonna let that idiotic bastard die like this! He already felt the anger against the blond, he already felt the fire and the desire of punching him in the face. He was definitely not letting the blond die until he had his fist introduced to Sanji's curly and stupid face and vice versa. He wondered if he could make his nose as curly as his freaking brows.

And then he was cutting through flesh and bones and running past the already defeated enemy, who didn't even see him coming and died with a shocked expression on his face. And he was almost there and he could already see the light leaving the cook's eyes and all he could think about was what an idiot Sanji was and how angry he was at him. So fucking angry he didn't even put his brain at work when his sword went through the brunnette's chest and stopped inches away from Sanji's.

Sanji could only see black. Suddenly the strain on his neck lightened as he felt a soft hand slip down to his chest and then fall down. He swore he had heard a bloody and sticky cough, but then again he couldn't really tell. He tried to give himself the instruction to breathe but he didn't manage to get air into his lungs and gagged and whinced. Then there were glimpses of green in the blackness of what was his current shitty vision. Oh, man, he knew that particular annoying green. And he also knew the voice.

"Oi! Damn shit-cook, you better fucking breathe or I'm gonna fucking kick the air into your motherfucking lungs and shove it down your nostrils!"

Sanji felt like laughing. What the hell was that? But then he felt a strong hand laying flat on his chest and slamming him to the wall with brutal force making something click inside him. He abruptly started to cough, the air filling his lungs like punches and waves altogether.

Zoro let go of him and struggled to loosen his tie, giving the cook room to breathe in and out. The cook's gaze started to drift from far away to reality and he knew he had him back. He released a breath he didn't even know he was holding, and the fact that he felt relieved only increased the angry rage inside him. He had never wanted to kick somebody's ass so bad and he wasn't even the one in charge of the badass kicking in their crew.

"You're an idiot" he muttered, contained.

Sanji was still coughing, all red and needy for oxygen, getting rid of the tie Zoro had started to loosen. Zoro felt his temper worsen and he didn't even bother to explain himself why.

"¡You're a fucking idiot!" he declared again, this time yelling with broken rage. "¡I'm gonna seriously kill you, you bastard!"

"You shut up." Sanji snapped, partly regaining his composture. "You damn moss-head. As if you could."

Zoro was about to reply and let hell break loose when Sanji gave a startled look around him and desperation wiped his features, effectively shutting Zoro up.

"¿What?"

"¿Nami?" the cook half asked. Then he saw her and stood up but Zoro held him down by his wrist.

"Chopper will kick your ass and tell you to go away" he warned in a calmer tone.

Sanji realised that Chopper was already treating Nami, running around her, poking, frowning and deciding what to do next while trying not to freak out himself. Zoro had just realised the reindeer was there as well but they both knew Nami was Chopper's right now. Yet...

"I don't give fuck." Sanji snatched his arm away and headed to where the readhead was restraining her tears and bracing herself in a fetal position.

He saw her face bathed in contained tears, all bloody and sweaty, black bags already under her eyes, and felt something heavy drop inside him. He hadn't protected her. He hadn't been enough to protect her.

"Nami, my dear..." he whispered, astonished, not knowing what to do for the first time in years.

"Sanji, please go away. I need space to work with." Chopper announced, sounding professional and calm. But the doctor was trembling. The wound was something serious, he could see it in the reindeer's face.

"But Chopper..."

"Mhmm?"

"Will she... ¿Will she be okay?" he asked. He sounded like a little strangled birdie. And he totally felt like one.

Chopper didn't say anything and continued his work, the silence falling over him like a sharp kitchen knife piercing his chest. Sanji's shoulders fell and after realising his mind was blank and that he was actually doing nothing, he took some steps away, quivering, trembling, weak. At one point he forced himself to turn his back to them to do his damn fucking job and go get more enemies he could kick the asses of, which was what pretty much everyone in the crew was doing. Just when he lost sight of the wounded beautiful redhead, he heard Chopper's voice.

"It's not your fault."

Something strained his heart so bad it hurt. Hurt so much. He fought away a weird wetness in his eyes he was no longer familiarised with and headed to where he thought he'd find a good ass to kick.

Zoro watched the blond's back go away, the fury inside him only fueling at every step the cook took. He couldn't stand him. Couldn't stand how the idiot had let himself almost be killed by someone just because she had tits and a nice face. Couldn't stand how he assumed it was his responsibility to save all the ladies' asses when they could fight for themselves. Couldn't stand how his eyes had looked lost and empty when he had approached Nami with only guilt and shame on his face. Couldn't stand how his shoulders seemed to fall to the ground, his pose no longer proud and straight and badass, but defeated and self-disappointed instead. Zoro wanted to cut something. _Needed_ to fucking cut something before he'd cut the blond bastard's head off his shoulders in his rage.

A far away cry told him that Usopp was having trouble with his opponent (which would turn out to be a horde of trained assassins mounted in wicked carnivorous horses when he'd tell the story later on while praising himself for being such a brave warrior and oh weren't they so lucky to have him in the crew!) and Zoro moved from his spot willing to help if that meant he could do some harm and let himself go.


	2. Chapter 2 - Forgive Me

Nami opened her eyes to see the infirmary's ceiling, blurry and unfocused. A wave of pain shook her where she knew a damn sharp weapon had pierced her skin and muscles. Ugh, dammit, she had been too slow and didn't react in time even though she had seen it coming. She told herself she should be more careful from now on and then took a moment to let the fact that she was still alive sink in. She had really assumed she was done for. She had heard Sanji cry her name with a desperate hoarse and broken voice, had seen a glimpse of Zoro freezing where he was, his own enemy launching an attack on him, had heard Chopper cry and run around her, had seen Luffy destroy Yoong while yelling just like he always did when he got really pissed off.

The redhead forced herself to overcome the sharp pain and sat up straight. Were the others alright? Then she caught the sight of Robin sitting on a chair next to her bed, eyes closed, half asleep.

"Robin?" she squeaked.

The archaeologist snapped her eyes open and looked at her, surprised and then calm again, her lovely half drawn smile lighting her features up.

"Nami," she nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"Quite bad, actually," Nami managed to answer with a light smile. "But hey, I'm alive."

"Our doctor did a good job, you'll be fine in his hands."

"Never doubted it. Not even for a minute,"Nami agreed. Once in his professional hands, or should she say hoofs, she was sure the reindeer would do anything to get her back in good shape.

A thought crossed her muddled mind and worry overtook her.

"Robin..."

"Sanji is blaming himself," the older woman announced before she could ask, apparently reading her mind. "We've all insisted it's not his fault but I think he's pretty much torturing himself over it. He told me to call him when you woke up, he's probably going to make a fuss of it. Be ready to receive all the flowers he can gather and find apologizing letters everywhere in the ship."

Nami snorted, shaking her head.

"Thought so. But it's really not his fault."

"Make sure you tell him and he'll probably feel better about it." Robin cheered, helpful as always. "I'm going to get Chopper so he can check on you. Then I'll call Sanji and the rest."

"Thanks, Ro."

"I'm glad you're fine." Robin added with an unexpected streak of sincere concern. "You had all of us worried here."

She smiled at her and Nami smiled back, weakly, before letting herself rest again in bed, waiting for the doctor to come.

...

"Cook. Booze."

Sanji heard the door of the galley creak and wrinkled his nose at the annoying voice at his back. He heard the moss-head's steps reaching the place he had the sake stored in and before the idiot could react he had a foot slammed against the door he intended to open, effectively blocking his way before he could sack their supplies.

"Oh. Look. Little Marimo managed to read my mind," Sanji mocked showing a pissed half smirk.

"What."

Zoro looked at him, both annoyed and unimpressed, but he stayed in place.

"Come here," the cook motioned. "I was actually looking for you. Good timing."

The swordsman looked at the place he knew he'd find the booze, now marked with a dent on the door, courtesy of Blackleg Sanji. Then he fixed his eyes on the cook, who was heading to the kitchen counter with his hands in his pockets.

"Booze," he insisted, not one to give up.

"If you don't want my foot shoved up your ass you better come here just about fucking right now."

Zoro rolled his eyes and surprisingly did as he was told, keeping the distance, wary, hoping that if he behaved he'd have his booze as a reward.

"So?"

A plate full of onigiri was slammed on the countertop right in front of him. If it hadn't been Zoro he would have probably startled at the sudden aggressive gesture.

"What's this?" he managed to ask in between his slight surprise.

"Can't you tell? Do you need a sketch, maybe a beautiful drawing explaining it? It's called food. You're supposed to put it in your mouth and then..."

"What for?" Zoro interrupted him with a suspicious glare. Now he was officially alert and waiting for the trick Sanji would pull out of his sleeve any time.

The cook snorted and leaned against the counter, lighting a cigarette and letting the smoke fill his lungs. Suddenly he looked uncomfortable and out of place, his eyes wandering somewhere else as he seemed to look for the right words.

"You saved my ass back there," he muttered, visibly annoyed and embarrassed that he had to admit it out loud. Zoro was surprised the blond wasn't kicking his head while talking. "_Mywaytothankyoubastard_," he rushed.

And then he shut up and turned his back to him as if there had never been a conversation going on between them.

Zoro blinked once, twice, now three times.

"You got a fucking fever or something?" he asked, not quite getting the picture. The idea of the cook thanking him was a joke, what the hell was up with the bastard? Cussing-annoying-insufferably-loud Sanji he could deal with, but grateful-and-showing-it Sanji? Had the world gone nuts? How was he supposed to react now?

"You wanna eat this or do I directly shove it down Luffy's mouth?" Sanji threatened, sounding really, really, _really_ pissed. "At least he'll appreciate my divine cooking, nothing I expect a caveman like you to do. I don't even know why I bothered..."

"Fine, fine! Stop bitching, I'm eating it dammit!" Zoro barked, possessively protecting his treat when Sanji tried to snatch it away from him. "Sissy moody shit-cook..."

"And what the fuck was that, you fucking asshole!" Sanji roared, ready for a fight.

Zoro would have had to unshield at least two of his swords right there and then to defend himself from the raging blonde if Robin hadn't walked into the room at that very same moment. Sanji's features instantly softened in front of Zoro's eyes, his shoulders falling again, his eyes apprehensive and dead worried. How he could switch from a raging inferno to a vulnerable guilty-looking defeated man Zoro couldn't understand, but damn if that simple gesture didn't make the swordsman want to punch Sanji in the face with everything he had to bring him back to normal.

"Robin, is she..." Sanji babbled, his voice unsure and oh so guilty.

Robin smiled a cheerful smile and nodded.

"She's awake and she is fine, Sanji. Chopper is now taking a look at her. You can go there and wait until he finishes, she wants to see you."

Sanji let out a breath he never realised he was holding and relief bathed his worried features, setting them at relative peace.

"Thank you, Robin, my dear," he bowed, a weak but polite smile on his face.

Then he rushed out of the galley letting Robin affectionately pat his shoulder for which he dedicated her a string of adoration claims and flirtatious remarks which no longer had the force and passion they used to, which made Robin frown when he was gone. A worried look appeared in her eyes, realising the cook was really not being himself, at least not at full. It was starting to get worrying.

The woman turned to face Zoro who was frowning while stuffing his mouth with onigiri, refusing to let his gaze wander to any place that wasn't the ever so interesting countertop. Well, if the swordsman wasn't truly pissed.

"Did our cook prepare these for you?" she asked out of curiosity.

Zoro nodded without looking at her.

"Weird indeed," she commented to herself, knowing she'd have more luck trying to start a conversation with a rock than with him.

When she was about to get out of the galley to announce the good news to their captain, she changed her mind and turned to Zoro yet again. Trying was never a waste of time.

"Sanji's not being himself," she announced.

Zoro snorted.

"Oh, really?"

"He's feeling guilty for what happened to Nami."

The green-haired man finally lift his gaze and fixed his eyes on her. Oh, yes, no mistaking it now. He was pissed as hell.

"I know."

Robin nodded and finally left, leaving the swordsman alone while he finished eating the onigiri which, he had to admit, were edible. Edible? What the fuck, they were the best onigiri he had ever shoved into his mouth! Not that he would ever admit it out loud, though.

...

"Sanji, I told you to get out!" Chopper screeched fighting against the hand Sanji held against his face, keeping him at bay.

"Just a minute Chopper, please."

"No! I am doing my job and I told you..."

"Nami, how are you feeling?"

Nami smiled, pale and tired but yet half laughing at the scene.

"Not at my best but I'm fine, Sanji," she said in a reassuring tone.

Sanji gulped, trying to get the words out of his throat while despising himself for letting this kind of situation, where he would have to apologise to a woman for not being able to protect her, happen.

"Nami, I..."

"Okay, you wait a minute there," Nami stopped him holding a hand in the air, frowning and defying. "I'm warning you, I'm gonna increase your debts a 10% everytime I happen to hear "sorry" go out of your mouth until you become even more indebted than Zoro and that is something to say, believe me."

"But Nami..."

"I don't wanna hear it," she sentenced, glaring at him to tell him it was an order. "It's not your fault, it never was, and if I happen to see you sulking and feeling sorry over it, not only will I actively work on increasing you debts until Zoro's are a joke next to yours, but I will also kick you in the mouth with my high heels. That clear enough?"

"Nami is scaryyyyyy..." Chopper cried out, backing off and finally letting Sanji have some personal space.

Sanji let a hand slip through his hair, feeling frustrated as ever, trying to make her understand but knowing that being the lovely angel she was she wouldn't let him blame himself for it though that was the only thing he _could_ do. Not looking away this time, not escaping his mistakes. He never had and wouldn't start doing it now.

"Nami, listen to me just for a minute... please?" he begged. When she sealed her lips, giving him time to formulate his thoughts, he went for it, rushing before she changed her mind. "Let me say it just one time. Just once. I need it, I really do, so please, I'm begging you, let me at least apologize this one time. It's the least I can do."

Nami let her eyes explore the blond's blue one and her chest tightened when she saw he was wrecked.

"If it makes you feel better, go ahead," she conceded. But then held a finger in the air. "Just once."

Sanji nodded and felt a knot in his throat. Then kneeled and bowed his head, pride forgotten.

"I am sorry, Nami. I really am. I can't stand that I couldn't protect you, that I couldn't do anything because I am too weak and couldn't get that woman off me, not even for you. I hate and despise myself for it and I keep wondering what kind of man I am... And I hate this situation and I hate to see you hurt this bad," he let out in a hushed, pained and embarrassed voice. "So, sorry. I really am. I really mean it. Will you forgive me?"

Nami sighted and pinched his nose for good measure.

"Point number one: protecting me is not your responsibility anymore, I can take care of myself and I was just too slow so, really, it was my fault for not being careful enough. My battle, my mistakes," she crashed her whole hand against his mouth, preventing him from saying otherwise. "Point number 2: stop sulking, it's not your fault and I don't want a depressed chef on board. Point number 3: what you should be worrying about is the fact that you almost got yourself killed because you didn't even try to defend yourself against a woman, but that's your choice and we all know how you feel about it. Point number 4: you're not weak by any means, you are part of the Monster Trio for crying out loud! Point 5: I order you to stop feeling miserable about it and I'll take it personally if you don't obey me in this. Point 6: there's really nothing to forgive, but if it really makes you feel better, then there you go: I forgive you, Sanji."

Sanji looked at her as if he had seen God himself descend from the skies surrounded by a gospel choir of hundreds of angels.

"Nami, you're so..." he started, dramatic tears crowding in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now get out of here before Chopper gets..."

"NAMI YOU'RE AWAKEEEE!"

Sanji was pushed to the side and thrown against a wall as a horde of idiots invaded the room, Luffy leading the procession like the crazy bastard he was.

"How are you feelingdoyouwantmymeat?!"

"Namiiiiii you're awaaaake! How SUPER is that?! You feeling SUPER?!"

"Nami! Now that I think of it, I haven't told you yet! Did you know I was fighting a horde of trained assassins mounted in wicked carnivorous horses and I won all by myself with just one finger and a threatening glare?!"

"Usopp, that's not true, it was one man alone and Zoro had to come to rescue you!" Luffy protested, pointing at him with an accusing finger.

"That's what we told you, because I normally don't boast about my victories as I am the commited discrete hero-type, ya know."

"Woaaaah Usopp! How cool is that!" Luffy and Chopper screamed at the same time, proceeding to adore the long nose with shining stars in their eyes.

"Yohohoho! Nami may I see your panties?"

"What the fuck did you say you shitty bonny bastard!" Sanji raged, kicking him in the head.

"I was being polite!"

"No, you weren't dammit!"

"Nami, you look much better, we really do have a SUPER doctor here!"

"Shut up bastard! Stop complimenting me, you're not making me happy you damn asshole! And you two stop fighting! No fighting in my infirmary!"

"I'm just trying to relocate this guys' afro, see if he finally gets to use his brain."

"Just that I have no braaaaaain! Yohohohohohoho!"

"Hahahaha, Brook you're so funny! Skull jokes!" Luffy cheered like a three-year-old.

"Out of my infirmary! NOW! You're disturbing my patient!"

"You heard that, bastards, you better get out of here before I kick you asses!"

"Sanji, you too."

"Wha- Why? Chopper that's not fair! I wanna stay, I wanna be of help to Nami!" Sanji complained, a betrayed look on his face.

"Then go make her something to eat!" Chopper ordered.

"Oh! That's right, you're so clever Chopper!"

"Stop complimenting me assholeeeee!"

"DID I HEAR MEAT FEAST?!"

"Luffy, what the actual fuck."

"We're throwing a party! Captain's orders!"

"No, we aren't."

"OUT OF HERE!"

"And then the assassins came all at once, ready to cut my head, but guess what, Nami..."

"Nami, want me to bring you meat or not?!"

"Luffy don't interrupt my story dammit!"

"No, thank you Luffy."

"Well, more for me. Sanji! Meat!"

"I'm not cooking for you, you damn black hole! It's just for Nami!"

"But Sanjiii..."

"Yohohohohohoho!"

"OUT!"

Some punches and a hoofed kick slamming the door later, the infirmary welcomed the needed silence. Nami sighed, half laughing half feeling relieved her crazy crew had stopped piercing her ears.

"Can I stay?"

They both turned to Robin, startled. She was wearing her usual smile, hands held behind her back. They hadn't seen her come back but neither of them bothered to ask when had she come in or if she had been there all along. Chopper nodded, already feeling tired with all the ruckus they had just gone through because 80% of the crew didn't seem to undestrand words like "patient", "rest" or "doctor's orders". And why the hell did they have to yell while talking?

"Oh my, they're loud," Robin chuckled, sitting by Nami's side. The redhead laughed and nodded. "What about Sanji?"

"He looked better after apologizing. Though I told him there was no need."

"Thought so. It's so like him."

...

After kicking the shit out of Brook for having been rude to Nami, kicking Franky in the face for being too loud, ordering Usopp to shut the fuck up and playing tag with Luffy as a condition for his captain to leave him the hell alone while cooking, he finally made it to the galley in order to cook for his beloved redhead. His visible eyebrow raised in annoyance when he saw the damn moss-head who had fallen asleep with his head resting _on _the empty plate where there once had been onigiri. Really, just how much of a caveman could that moss-for-brains be? Before he registered what he was doing he had a foot plastered on the other man's cheek, causing the idiot to jump and almost fall from his chair.

"What the fuck!"

"You slept on the plate I am going to wash," Sanji answered with a dead pan expression that did wonders to fuel Zoro's irritation. "Get out of my kitchen. I'm gonna cook for Nami."

Zoro snorted and did as he was told but not before getting a hold of a sake bottle. To his surprise, Sanji didn't stop him, but said instead: "Go see Nami. She's awake."

"I already heard before."

"Then fucking go visit her, you mannerless bastard."

The swordsman rolled his eyes.

"I will when Chopper lets us in again. I heard all the ruckus and I highly doubt Chopper won't smack me if he sees me showing there."

"Okay, whatever, just do it. It'll make her happy."

"Yeah, sure, she'll be dancing and jumping around and puking rainbows when she sees me because we're such good fr-"

Sanji turned to glare at him and it was a warning. Zoro couldn't help but smile teasingly and caught a glimpse of a similar gesture in Sanji's face before the blond looked away.

"Puking rainbows..." the cook repeated. Next sound he let out reminded Zoro of a chuckle.

Zoro's grin grew wider and then he left the cook alone but not before half turning and saying:

"By the way, they were good."

When Sanji turned around to look at him, he was gone. What was that just now? What was good? He squeezed his eyebrows, confused both at the tone and at the words. Was he talking about the onigiri? Wait, was the moss head actually praising his cuisine? Sanji had to suppress a laugh. Nope. No way in hell. Zoro would never say something good about the food he fed them. Not even the day Sanji managed to elaborate the best fucking dish in the goddamn world would a nice word come out of the damn marimo's mouth, that was a fact just as firm as Nami's boobs. Wait, had he just made that kind of comparison? Oh, well. So he just shook the thought out of his head and concentrated on cooking something that would make Nami smile since he had so much to make up for.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Calm Before the Storm

1.

2.

3.

A glimpse of blond strands caressed by the breeze.

110.

111.

112.

Smoke rising from a cigarette lit with suave and precise motions.

344.

345.

346.

The galley door closing after its king.

2372.

2373.

2374.

"Robin, love, and you damn crazy bastards, get your butts over here, lunch is ready!"

A storm of rubber limbs, fur and a long nose ended up stumbling in front of the blonde, who stopped them with a kick in each idiot's face without as much as blinking. Sanji ignored the complaints of his captain, the sniper and the doctor of the ship, who were currently being laughed at by both Franky and Brook, and waited for his black-haired flower to walk in first, bowing and melting in stupid-sounding love declarations.

2409.

2410.

2411.

A kick in the head. Oh, well.

"Do that again, cook, and I swear I'm gonna cut you in half."

"Do what? This?"

A stronger kick in the head.

Zoro gave up counting his repetitions and angrily threw the weights he'd been working with, leaving a dent on deck much to Franky's despair. He could swear he heard the man _screeching_. Sanji blocked his sword with the sole of his dress shoe and the most annoying smirk he could pull. Zoro's brow twitched in response.

"When I say 'you damn crazy bastards, get your butts over here, lunch is ready' it also includes you, moss head."

Then he used his damn flexibility to lean even closer to Zoro, invading his personal space without his leg trembling one bit, flexing to a point the swordsman swore was not physically possible. His attention switched to the nose almost touching his and then to the pissed blue iris.

"Did it sink in or do I need to kick the concept into your one-cell-brain?"

"Go. To. Hell," Zoro spat.

"Yeah, that's probably where I'm gonna end up being thrown to, but not yet, Marimo. I plan on living longer," Sanji shrugged, letting some air pass between them by removing his leg and dodging Zoro's half-assed blow.

Seeing an opening, the cook's hand flew to get a grasp of Zoro's haramaki and drag the unwilling shirtless swordsman after him. The moss-head snapped his hand away and met a pissed-off look that distracted him from the foot that inmediately kicked his ankle and made him fall to the ground.

"AAAGH! Dammit, fucking let me go, you shit-cook!" he roared with a vein in his forehead about to explode with anger and humiliation.

But said shit-cook was already dragging him by the ankle and only stopped when he met a bunch of stairs.

"Not gonna drag you up there, moss head," he announced wearily. His voice was cut by a fuming swordsman who grasped his suit in a fist and clashed his own forehead to the blonde's with a fury-possessed expression. "Fuck! That hurt!"

"You totally deserved it, fucker!" Zoro growled with his face almost plastered to the cook's. Sanji started to fear the vein in Zoro's forehead would really explode.

"Agh, man you stink! Fucking go clean yourself before coming in for lunch!"

"You really do seem to want your ass kicked."

"I'm the one in charge of kicking asses here, excuse you."

"Dammit Luffy stop eating other's food!" Usopp's scream reached their ears from the galley and Sanji went purple much to Zoro's amusement.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I FUCKING TOLD YOU TO WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO BE PRESENT BEFORE YOU EAT, YOU DAMN HUMAN VACUUM?!" Sanji roared stomping into the galley with a murderous aura that caused Chopper to shriek in panic and Usopp to ask for mercy even when this time he wasn't the one to blame.

Zoro couldn't help but laugh out loud at the murdering sounds coming from the cook's realm. He still could half hear Luffy protesting and Sanji beating the shit out of him when he entered the bathroom.

That was more like the cook. An unconscious smile curled his lips.

...

Zoro entered the galley when everyone was already leaving to take a nap, play tag, repair the deck, play some music, keep on researching that new formula they had been working on or tell big stories nobody really listened to. The swordsman found his portion of food intact on the table, waiting for him. He had to mentally praise the cook for being able to keep it away from the black hole they had for a captain and for actually bothering to fight over it. Not that he was going to open his mouth to show any signs of gratitude, though: he was Roronoa fucking Zoro, the one he should be thanking was Blackleg Sanji, and they hated each other's guts, so _nope_.

He sat down and started to shove the food into his non-grateful-at-all mouth, realising Robin was still there, helping Sanji clean the dishes with sprouts of hands here and there. Zoro felt an eyebrow rise when he noted that it was weird enough to see the cook letting one of his beautiful flowers help with mundane chores he always did for them. Agh, since when did he pay so much attention to what the cook was doing?!

"Sanji..."

Zoro raised his head again when he heard the archaeologist thoughtfully call the cook.

"Yes, Robin, love?"

" May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, my flower," Sanji conceded with a smile of his own. The kind of bright smile he only draw for Nami and Robin. Though weaker. Zoro frowned when seeing the gesture with half the force it used to have.

"What's bothering you?"

Straight to the point. That was something Zoro liked about the woman, even though she was kind of creepy sometimes. The flinch in Sanji's shoulders didn't go unnoticed by the swordsman, who frowned even deeper and stopped eating. They didn't seem to have a problem with him being in the same room as them as they talked, so they wouldn't mind if he took the time to properly listen to the conversation.

Sanji stopped his work, rinsed his hands and turned to face Robin with a bothered look on his face.

"Nami," he managed to answer.

That tone. That fucking defeated tone. _The_ defeated look. That defeated pose. Oh, how he wanted to punch that bastard in the face and bring him back somehow. That was so _not _like him. And that annoyed Zoro to no end without even understanding why. But didn't everything the cook say and do annoy him? But _that_ did far way more than annoy him. That infuriated the hell out of him and made something dangerous boil in his stomach.

Half a second later Sanji regained his composure and lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke and relaxing to it, going back to his usually proud and confident stance. The bothered look stayed, though. But at least he didn't look like a fucking defeated man anymore. Zoro felt his shoulders relax a bit and waited for the cook to explain himself.

"What about Nami?" Robin helped, gently.

"She's our navigator and she won't be able to do her job for a while in this state. Chopper said she'd need at least a week without getting out of bed."

Both Robin and Zoro understood where this was going and the implications of what their cook was saying, an uneasy feeling in the pits of their stomachs.

"This crew needs her in shape," Zoro agreed, voicing their thoughts out loud.

Sanji looked at him for the first time and nodded, serious. He had a calculating and troubled look now while holding his cigarette between two fingers near his lips, which he was biting.

"Have you sensed anything weird?" Sanji carefully asked, looking at both of them intently.

Zoro looked at Robin and she looked back, doubtful.

"You mean about the weather?"

Sanji nodded at him again, clearly waiting for an answer he... feared?

Robin looked back at Zoro and when she couldn't find an answer in his now lost stare, she fixed her eyes at the ceiling with her brows slightly furrowed.

"Well... We've actually been having quite a nice weather for the past few days. Not a single cloud," she said. And she suddenly looked as bothered as Sanji as she shared a look with him.

"So?" Zoro grunted. He wasn't getting shit.

"May I remind you we're in the New World?" Sanji snapped with an expression that read: 'can you be more of an idiot?'. "We're supposed to be facing crazy weather nobody understands, supernatural nature disasters and all this shit we haven't been through for a while."

Zoro felt his good eye widen a bit, the information sinking in. Now that they mentioned it... Not a single rain drop, not a damn cloud, not a wave troubling them. Well, if that wasn't weird... But wasn't that good for them?

"Not even a Sea King bothering us, indeed," Robin muttered, deep in thought. "How do they call it? The calm before the storm?"

Something clicked inside his brain. He looked straight up at Robin and then at Sanji, who was also letting his gaze wander between the two of them.

"You mean something's coming our way?" Zoro asked.

Not that he was afraid, he definitely wasn't, but they were in the fucking New World and if something was to happen in the middle of that vast and crazy-as-fuck ocean they'd have to face it without Nami. And much to his annoyance, he had to admit that the redhead was the only one who could get them out of trouble when their enemy was a storm, the wind or gigantic waves capable of sinking a whole fleet. Not to be a pessimist but if something was up with the weather before Nami could lead their moves, they were most likely screwed.

"That, or we are in our way to that "something",Sanji said. "Not that we can know for sure. It may just be me being too sensitive about the whole situation and maybe we'll just get to the next island without much of a problem but..."

"No, I think you're right," Robin cut him. "Wind hasn't been as strong today. Just a breeze. And the sky..." she walked to the window, taking a peek to see if her assumptions were right. "...is a different blue. Deeper. Awkwardly so."

"Maybe we should just ask Nami. See if your thoughts are correct. If something's up she'll have already sensed it," Zoro suggested, stuffing his mouth with a forkful of pasta.

"She'd have already said something if she had," Sanji shook his head.

"So? If she hasn't said anything, there must be nothing to worry about," Zoro reasoned.

"She's drugged and sleeping most of the time, moss-head, how do you want her to sense a thing? And since she is in the infirmary she hasn't _seen_ the weather either," Sanji snapped again, visibly irritated. "We'll have to manage alone if something happens and we better be prepared because there's no Nami leading us this time."

Robin sighed and nodded.

"We'll have to keep our eyes wide open," she agreed. "If we notice something, even if it seems ridiculous or unimportant, we say it."

"Yet, I wouldn't tell others," Sanji thought out loud. "We'd just make them worry, maybe without a need. And even if they knew, half of them would just freak out, and the other half wouldn't give a fuck until they had a gigantic wave in front of their noses."

Both Zoro and Robin nodded. That sounded pretty sensible, actually.

"And unless things get really weird or we get in immediate danger, we must absolutely _not_ drag Nami into this," the blond turned specifically to Zoro, pointing at him menacingly. "Understood?"

Zoro gave him the finger but still shook his head in agreement seconds later.

"We don't want her unnecessarily worried. Right now she needs to get better at all costs."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Shit's talked about, let me finish my food."

"King of politeness strikes again," Sanji mocked, rolling his eyes.

Robin chuckled and then headed outside.

"I'm gonna take a look at Nami's maps and notes about the New World, see if I can get something out of it. I will tell you if I find any useful information."

"I'll be waiting, my beautiful flower! Thank you so much! And don't worry, if something happens I'll..."

But then his voice got cut and a weird expression crossed his face half a second before he let a dish slip from his hands and crash to the floor.

"Oh, my! Excuse my rudeness, Robin, darling! How could I be so clumsy!" he excused himself while bending to get the broken bits, effectively hiding his face behind a curtain of hair.

Robin blinked at this and risked a glance at Zoro who was currently eyeing his knife with murder intent with a popping vein decorating his forehead.

"Don't worry. Thank you for warning us, Sanji," she said quickly and smiling. Then she left the two men alone.

Sanji had just finished cleaning the mess he had made when he heard his "favourite" voice addressed at him.

"Oh, how clumsy of you."

It sounded an awful lot like the voice Sanji would pull when talking to his ladies. It did sound stupid, to be fair. At least coming from Zoro.

"Shut the fuck up," he snapped back.

Zoro looked at him but Sanji was only showing him his back. The swordsman could easily complete the sentence that had been left mid-air: "If something happens I'll protect you" or some shit like that. He had heard the cook say that again and again and again, always meaning it, always staying true to his word and actually doing it, always _confident_. And now he couldn't even bring himself to say it. Zoro bit his lip to prevent himself from standing up and beating the shit out of him.

"Whatever."

The swordsman managed to get a hold of himself and brought the empty dish to the kitchen counter when he felt pretty confident of being able to restrain his violent urges.

"Do you really think we're getting into shit?" he asked in a low voice.

Sanji finally turned to him and stared directly into his steel eye, nothing but honesty in his blue one.

"Yes."

Zoro found himself sighing."Oh, well. We've managed toughest shit before," and brought himself to draw an encouraging grin despite the urge to punch the cook.

He got his little reward when Sanji naturally grinned back mirroring his confident gesture, looking like himself once again. If he could just always stay like this... If he could just not disappear every now and then when he wasn't careful enough as to hide the sad, defeated eyes he didn't recognise as the cook's... Zoro wondered if there was any way to keep the expression he was currently showing plastered to his face forever, confident, defying, ready to kick ass. And then proceeded to slap himself mentally. What the fuck was he thinking?!

"We'll manage," he rushed, suddenly feeling awkward.

Sanji chuckled half heartedly but still nodded.

"Sure. Now get out of my kitchen, Marimo. I need to cook Nami's lunch."

Zoro frowned at him but kept it light as he had caught a glimpse of humor beneath his words.

"Zoro."

Said man stopped just before leaving, turning to face a half serious blonde.

"Keep your eye extra open. You only have one so you have to compensate for the useless one."

Zoro showed him his middle finger in all his glory, scowling like mad, but Sanji could hear his strong deep laugher after the door closed behind him with a thump. That made Sanji sincerely smile.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Wind

Chapter 4 - The Wind

...

Sun raised as it always did, painting the sky of reds and oranges and violets that took over the blackness and the dark blues, stars still shining faintly and the moon being just a hint that it had been there. The ocean turned gold and reflected the light like a still huge mirror always facing the sky.

A certain cook woke up to the scene filling his lungs with the first cigarette of the day, leaning against the rail of the still asleep Thousand Sunny. The smoke managed to dissipate upon him but the breeze was so faint it couldn't take it too far away. The calmness was so solid one could almost take a bite of it and chew it. It was too calm. Sanji's eyebrow twitched at the thought.

When he finished his first smoke he headed to the kitchen and started planning the day's breakfast, which would be better than the day before but never better than the day after as he didn't accept anything else of himself than to keep improving and getting better. Luffy would say it was delicious as always but Sanji could tell the difference and took his moments to feel proud of his little achievements.

But today it felt forced. Today he had to make an effort to concentrate and find that little detail that would make it better. It had been happening ever since Nami got hurt back in the last island, back when _he _had let her get hurt because he was too weak to protect her. Funny enough, the strong conviction he proudly lived by, never hurting a woman, not even if he died, ended up letting a woman he cared about get hurt.

Luckily enough, his dark thoughts were disturbed when he heard the familiar sound of combat boots stomping downstairs to deck. Time for the crew's moss ball to do his crazy morning training. Sanji concentrated on the fried eggs he was currently working on, his attention back to improving and distracted from his previous line of thought. Thankfully. There's only so much self-pitying and self-despising one can take before going nuts.

Breakfast took a while as Sanji made sure there was something new and special in every dish, as he bothered personalizing each crew's servings because it kept on distracting him and gave him something to think about other than how worthless and shit he was.

A more rational part in him weakly tried to convince him that he was overreacting but 98% of his brain and chest and stomach constantly felt like shit when thinking about how he had let Nami get badly hurt, blaming himself for all there was to blame while trying to find a way to amend things and not finding any. Nami had made it cristal clear that she didn't think it was his fault and that she didn't want him distressed over this and it had kind of helped him torture himself a little less, to find some kind of relief, but never really made the guilt stored in his chest go away. It stayed there just like an anchor. And cooking was one of the things that made the weight lighter, even if it still didn't come out as natural as it normally would and he had to force himself to put the same amount of effort to make what he always did: fucking kill it because he was the coolest greatest chef, that is. Better approach, he congratulated himself. He could use some self-indulgence.

Giving a satisfied look at the servings, he headed out of the galley and took a deep breath to call everyone for breakfast. He stopped for a moment though, when his gaze met the back of the crew's swordsman tensing and flexing as he counted his billionth push-up, tensed bronzed muscles glittery and shiny and humid because of the sweat. When the "what the actual fuck" alarm switched on, Sanji realized he had been taking the view for far way too long and made his presence noticed by lighting a cigarette. The swordsman only paused for the tiniest millisecond and then kept going with his repetitions as if he hadn't noticed Sanji after the weak "click" reached his ears, which he had.

"You better go wash yourself before coming in, you damn muscle-brain," Sanji announced in a flat tone, not expecting Zoro to stop on his training. Then he breathed in again and shouted. "Breakfast is ready!"

Hell broke loose somewhere in the men's quarters as they heard various wary noises and, above them all, Luffy yelling "breakfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast!" and some other shit that only meant Sanji had to get ready to barricade the galley to stop the idiot captain from storming in before everyone else and gulping everyone's food, plates included. Sanji rolled his eyes in despair and took the few precious seconds he had left before world war started to lay his gaze on Zoro again. To his surprise he had stopped doing his "warming up" and was now sat cross-legged on the grass, looking at him with serious eyes. Sanji didn't need the marimo to voice his thoughts out loud, his look was one of concern and it was exactly the same Sanji was now giving him. They had both realized how weak the wind was. How everything was too calm. A spark of understanding crossed both men's eyes and both of them nodded and fell into a wary stance.

Just then, Luffy stomped out of the men's quarters and Sanji lazily took some steps back to the galley door with precise timing to plant the sole of his dress shoe on Luffy's face as he unguardedly attacked the door, never seeing the chef coming before his foot was already plastered against his nose.

Ah, routine.

"Good morning, captain, my captain," Sanji greeted with a murderous smile.

"Morning Sanji..."Luffy whined in a defeated tone. Even he knew it was useless trying to fight Sanji when it came to protecting food. An there was only so much sneaking around he could do before getting kicked in the face for good measure. Which he had already.

"Gah, dammit Luffy, you're always the same!" Usopp complained while heading towards them still in his pyjamas and a sleepy look on his face. "You almost destroyed my hammock! Can't you contain your morning enthusiasm a little?"

"Sanji, I'm hungryyyyy!"

"Well, you'll just wait 'til everyone gets here and shut the fuck up, that clear enough?!" Sanji growled at him while kicking him again, this time just as a warning. Which he needed, really. Then he thought of the way he usually directed to their captain as rather inappropriate (not that he gave a fuck really) and fixed it with a "Captain, my captain."

Luffy scowled and looked at the blonde as if he was the meanest creature ever to step on Earth and when Sanji took none of his bullshit, he proceeded to pout and look like a starving puppy that hadn't been fed in months. Sanji didn't hesitate to illustrate the raven boy about exactly how many fucks he gave, which was somewhere below zero.

By when their daily repetitive exchange had finished, Robin was already there and Sanji graciously opened the door for her and then "kindly" invited the rest of the bastards who had finally gathered to come in and fucking behave, see if they learnt some manners and today, for a change, they didn't eat like pigs. Not like he was going to be any lucky though. At the beginning he had had the hope that ,as they were all brainless morons, there'd be a lot of empty space in their heads to kick in some manners, but then it turned out that not only they had no brain at all but their skull was thick as fuck as well, so none of the gentleman knowledge and manners Sanji tried to relocate in them seemed to find a way in. In the end, he had just given up on hope. He hadn't stopped trying though, karma better return this to him.

Just before entering the jungle his kitchen had muted into, he turned to face Zoro.

"And you better not..."

"Don't worry, cook, I won't be skipping breakfast so fucking chill," Zoro snapped at him with a roll of his eyes as he started walking. "Just gonna wash. Bathroom. You asked for it."

"Whatever, just come when you're finished. Nobody goes without breakfast under my..."

"Yeah, yeah, now fuck off."

Sanji felt the tip of his lip twitch in amusement and Zoro felt it just the same without even looking at him as an annoyed twitch of his eyebrow matched the cook's amused one based on pure instinct.

"What now?" he growled, not even knowing why he was letting himself be dragged into the cook's shitty provocation, which he wasn't supposed to be sensing because he wasn't fucking looking and yet he _felt _the stupid smile that promised that something equally stupid would come out of Sanji's mouth for the sole purpose of annoying him.

"The bathroom's that way," Sanji pointed out with his lips trembling in an attempt not to laugh straight at the swordsman's face. So much for trying.

Zoro's ears went red as he saw, felt and was stabbed with Sanji's fucking smug grin that could only be translated as a neon-light reading "you're the king of idiots".

Sanji couldn't restrain himself anymore and started laughing like mad as Zoro enthusiastically flipped him off with a look that promised pain, though half as intimidating as embarrassment had taken over the leading role dressing Zoro's face in deep red and the scowliest scowl ever.

"How can you even... fucking get lost in a fucking... ship you spend 24... hours at?!" Sanji managed between laughter, but Zoro was already stomping away and didn't give him the pleasure to answer to that.

Such a shame. It would have definitely been fun seeing Zoro trying to justify that.

When he sat down with the others, Robin sent him a meaningful look he grasped while dismissing one of Usopp's shitty lies and she casually commented:

"Today is quite a calm day."

Of course nobody else listened to the observation or if they did they gave it no much thought to none, but Sanji nodded with the same casual demeanor and they both confirmed that the other was aware of the weird concerning weather shit. Good. They both needed to keep their attention put and ready.

Speaking of attention, Sanji's was caught when Luffy stretched his arm to get Zoro's serving but the cook was quick as lightning at kicking it away with a snarl and the promise of physical pain in his glare, which made Luffy retreat for a bit.

"Not your damn food, Luffy!"

Just in case, he put the plate away from the table, not that Luffy wouldn't be able to get it if he really bothered to and stretched as he knew he could, but the gesture made his point clear and it still was safer.

Sanji tried to ignore Robin's not so discrete chuckle.

...

Zoro put on some clean clothes and his ever present haramaki and emerged from the bathroom clean and refreshed, with his spiky green hair still wet. He still got a scowl imprinted on his face, embarrassment still making him try to come up with an excuse as for why he had gone the wrong direction to find the bathroom. Not that he would usually bother to justify himself anymore since, to be frank, he didn't really give a fuck about other people's opinions on his sense of direction, but the cook, almost as always, was an exception. That damn blonde managed to get under his skin with barely a mocking smirk and his instincts automatically looked for ways to counterattack anything that came from him. So yeah, he had spent all of his quick shower time, which was meant to be relaxing, struggling with his brain cells to find a way to give the cook back all the embarrassment he had just gone through. Really productive. Specially really mature.

But thinking about possible answers and revenges also led him to realize he hadn't seen that defeated damn look on the cook that morning. Which was good, he guessed. He hated that look so much he could barely bring himself not to punch the blonde straight in the face. He tried to picture the expressions he'd seen that morning on the Sanji but the closest one to the oh so hated look had been the concerned one they'd shared for a second and that had nothing to do with the cook but with the weather problem they were currently bound to have. Aside from that, everything had gone smooth as always, same old morning routine, same bickering and reactions, same badass cook being stupid and badass along with the stupidity of everyone else.

Zoro kind of felt relieved. Every time he caught a glimpse of that expression, something inside his stomach didn't set right. Every time he saw that, even if it had been just a few times since Sanji was probably the best fucking actor he had ever encountered in his life, the cook looked like a loser. And Sanji was many things, but one that was definitely _not_ in the list was "loser". Seeing him look like this was so out of place he didn't even know how to react to it. They hated each other's guts but, damn, every second Sanji let his guard down and his shoulders fell like that, Zoro missed his proud, over-confident, badass self so much it hurt and, most of all, annoyed him as hell.

Today he hadn't seen any signs, so it seemed alright. He didn't quite buy it though, he had seen the cook erase his feelings from his face quicker than he blinked, him not showing hurt or pain or guilt or whatever he was going through didn't mean it wasn't there.

Zoro sighed. And since when the hell did he, Roronoa Fucking Zoro, sigh? He ran a hand trough his spiky hair in an annoyed exasperated gesture and headed to the kitchen, not that he expected there to be any food left considering their captain's antics when it came to gulping everyone else's dishes down. He could always ask for the cook to cook something for him, all in all it was his job as much as Sanji would dislike him.

But contrary to what he expected, the cook wasn't in the empty galley when he walked in. Zoro frowned and made it to go look for the damn curly brows when he saw a plate set on the kitchen counter. He closed the distance between him and his discovery and found a little note by its side reading 'Marimo's serving. Luffy, if I find out you've eaten it, you're flying out of the fucking ship'. Very nice. Though it would have been useless since if Luffy had walked by, he wouldn't have bothered to read the threat written in there before gulping the food down. Zoro found himself smirking at the note.

The cook had bothered to fight for his ration... again. That kind of surprised him, he knew for a fact that Sanji wasn't exactly a fan of him and yet he had bothered... again.

And then he realized something was off. He looked around to see what it was and found that none of the dishes had been washed. Weird. Not something Sanji would let happen in his kitchen. Zoro frowned and forgot about his breakfast as he had pretty much an idea of where the cook could be. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet dragged him to the infirmary, where he found his prize indeed.

Just that it wasn't what he had wanted to find, really.

Sanji didn't even sense his presence, he was totally absorbed in his thoughts. He was sat on a chair by Nami's sleeping form, probably drugged by the painkillers. Her expression revealed she was in pain and her breathing was shallow and weird. Sweat patched her red hair to her pale wet face. The plate full of breakfast Sanji had adoringly prepared for her was forgotten on a table nearby as she was in no condition to eat right now.

But Zoro's attention wasn't on her anymore. He knew she'd struggle and that it must be quite painful, but he also knew the woman was strong, they all were dammit, they had gone through so much, all of them deserved a bit of credit for that, they were the fucking Strawhats! He knew she'd totally make it and he totally believed in Chopper, who had announced she was in no risk of dying whatsoever. He told them she'd struggle for a few days until pain calmed down and, if he had heard it right, she would be able to walk again and join normal life in a week or so. So even if he didn't like to see her in pain and even if he had indeed frozen in panic when he had seen her be pierced not knowing if she'd die or not back at that island (not that he'd admit it out loud, mind you), now he was sure she wouldn't, and he wouldn't worry more than needed.

What really got him was Sanji's stance. There it was again. Fallen weak shoulders, an unlitt cigarette hanging from his unexpressive lips, an empty and defeated stare looking at Nami with so much guilt one could almost breathe it in, hands clenched together and slightly trembling. The figure of a defeated man who had gone and come from war and lost it all.

WHAT THE FUCK.

Zoro's rage filled his lungs in an explosion of white and red and he had to clench his teeth and fists not to go and do something stupid such as rearranging the cook's face, though it sounded pretty appealing right now. He couldn't take it, he really couldn't. _That_ wasn't the cook he knew. That wasn't Sanji _at all_. That was a poor excuse of the man's shadow. Dammit even the bastard's shadow on a cloudy day stood prouder than that! The urge to bring him back hit him so hard that he had to restrain himself from going and violently shaking him out of it and shouting straight into his face to fucking come back to Earth.

Instead, he did something he knew would set the cook's own rage on fire, which was about a billion times better than what he was witnessing right now.

"So, how's the sea witch doing?"

Sanji jumped about a feet in surprise, his shoulders back where they should be, his hands disentangled and suddenly steady. And then it all turned to pure rage that sent his whole body trembling but for a completely different reason when he slowly turned to face the swordsman, clearly containing himself and with a pissed as hell look in his face. Good. That was _so _much better. At least that was Sanji.

"What did you just say?" he asked in a dangerous tone that promised some good kicking if Zoro didn't apologize for that.

Well, Zoro would rather have him kicking shit than sulking, so...

"You deaf? Asked if the sea witch is doing okay," he resolved, coolly.

Totally knowing what was coming.

"I'm fucking gonna kick your ass so bad you're gonna end up throwing up your apologies, you dumbfuck idiot marimo!"

Sanji stood up and fisted his haramaki to drag Zoro outside and the greenhead didn't fight back until they were on deck, where he ducked a deadly kick aimed at his face.

Zoro was pissed off as well, Sanji's defeated stance really did make him wanna break things, but a feral grin still escaped his lips as he unshielded his swords, seeing no more of that pathetic look, happy that he had brought the blonde to their meant-to-be territory, which was being badass motherfuckers stupidly fighting like idiots for nothing other than pride and the mere feeling of enjoying every bit of the fight.

Sanji was Sanji again, which was all that mattered right now.

Sanji spinned around wiping the air with his long legs and making Zoro retreat only to contort his body when finding an opening and launching through it. The opening no longer existed though, as Sanji had already read his movement in anticipation and was now jumping up in the air with the damn moon walk thing that put Zoro at disadvantage. Not one to complain when a challenge presented though, Zoro redirected his blow and a cut scratched the mast just where the blonde had been suspended.

Speaking of blonde, a curtain of gold hair invaded his vision when the cook managed to get close to him at surprising speed and threw a kick by his temple, which Zoro avoided by bending his body slightly backwards and cutting the air with his sword aiming at Sanji's side. His attack didn't go as planned though, as the other foot of the blonde kicked his ankle and made him stumble and lose balance as he was still dodging the first attack. How the hell did Sanji do that? It shouldn't be possible for his foot to reach his feet when the other leg was still up in the air forcing Zoro to get away of his aim, not without losing his own balance at least. But then again, it was Sanji he was talking about. What he managed to do with his legs was something even science or anatomy experts wouldn't be able to explain, that he was sure of. So he fell and missed his blow and Sanji pinned him against the grass, lazily siting on his stomach with a pissed off look as he lighted the cigarette he'd ben munching on for too long.

"So, what you're going to do _right now_, you damn marimo head, and you better listen-"

A gasp escaped his lips and cut him mid sentence when the swordsman let go of one of his swords and used his upper body to force them to switch positions, and without as much as blinking he was siting on Sanji, having immobilized his legs so that he lost his most powerful weapon, pinning both his arms over the blonde's head with a single hand and pointing the edge of the sword at his throat.

"Said what?"

Sanji went all shades of red and Zoro swore that if glares could kill he'd already be buried somewhere far away without a proper funeral. That only caused his grin to grow wider, triumphant and cocky.

"Go on, I was willing to listen, don't be shy."

"You goddamn fucking shitty marimo! I'm fucking gonna kick your mossy head off your body and send it flying to the moon and back and I'm gonna fucking filet the rest of you until your fucking over-worked body isn't recognisable anymore and I fucking swear to God if you don't fucking get off me about fucking right now I'm fucking gonna-mph!"

Sanji's rant was interrupted when Zoro's hand brusquely covered it, suddenly serious. He had been chuckling at the beginning of it but something had caught his attention and he was now wearing a concentrated and concerned look. Sanji tried to ask "what now?" but the sound was muffled by Zoro's rough palm on his lips so he tried a different approach and questioned him with his visible eye, starting to get worried. The pressure on his legs had evaporated as right now all the swordsman's efforts were set elsewhere. Sanji didn't shove him off though, instead, he waited for an answer. But Zoro's gaze was fixed on the sky.

A drop of sweat fell from Zoro's jaw to Sanji's cheekbone near his eye and he blinked at the contact. Zoro's hand was still on Sanji's wrists but it no longer had the purpose of holding him down, it just rested there, hot and sweaty. The other laid on Sanji's mouth testing the blonde's patience. He thought of sticking his tongue out of his lips so that he could lick Zoro's palm and force the bastard to back away but just as the thought crossed his mind (and, seriously now, what the fuck was he even thinking) Zoro looked down at him with a frown and worry in his open eye, searching something in his blue one and effectively freezing Sanji in place.

Sanji looked back at him, straight into his eye, trying to guess what that was all about. Another sweat drop lazily slid down Zoro's nose to his tip and then fell on Sanji's forehead. And something finally clicked.

Zoro found what he had been looking for when Sanji's eye widened in understanding.

Somewhere in the same deck, not far away, Franky was cursing them and complaining about how they had scratched the fucking mast and the Thousand Sunny wasn't to blame that they were retards, Usopp backing him up and Luffy laughing like mad somewhere else.

Sanji's eye never left Zoro's.

The greenhead removed his hand from Sanji's mouth, slightly brushing his lips, and Sanji barely opened them to voice the thought out loud.

"The wind..."

The wind had completely stopped.


	5. Chapter 5 - Saw it Coming

Chapter 5

Saw it Coming

* * *

"Shit"

Sanji made to get the swordsman off of him but said man was already scrambling up, giving him space to regain his footing, and next moment they were both taking hurried steps towards Franky and the rest of the crew.

"Have you seen Robin?" Zoro asked in a weird steady tone.

Franky shot them a glare and started swearing and telling them off for actively destroying the Thousand Sunny every other day with their stupid fights, but was cut off when Sanji pinned him to the scarred mast with a foot planted against his broad chest.

"Marimo asked you a question," he prompted. "Have you seen her?"

Oh, man, was that Blackleg Sanji backing Roronoa Zoro in an out of the blue situation? Glad he'd lived to see it! The blue haired man raised an eyebrow at this and, instead of getting even more annoyed at the ruthless attack, he seemed to grasp something was off with the duo, because he forgot his complaints and gave them a curt indication:

"I think she's at the aquarium... Maybe the library?"

Blond and green stomped to the aquarium only to find Brook rehearsing with his violin and offering them a special private music show "yohohohoho". They both dismissed it with a wave and headed to the library almost running now. Sky was still blue as ever, no clouds in sight, not a single wave, and no wind at all. Still kind of idyllic. Still felt dangerous as hell.

"Robin!"

The archaeologist lift her gaze from the book she was currently reading, her expression surprised at first and then gravely understanding as she sensed bad news carried by a hurried-looking duo who walked her way shoulder by shoulder. Really, those two coordinating like this, just walking side by side without jabs, or kicks, or puns, or anything other than a common goal and worry in their eyes, could only mean something bad was forcing them to lower their tolerating standards towards each other. Which meant there was a need for them to cooperate which they seemed to naturally do only when needed, and that usually was when the crew was fucked up. So, yeah, bad news.

"What's wrong?" she inquired, rapidly standing to save time.

"Robin, dear, it's the wind," Sanji announced with a soft tone he only graced ladies with but still miles away from the one he would usually use with them. Which meant he meant business, which meant him sensing serious trouble coming their way.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked again, trying to make them get things straight.

"It's just not there," Zoro answered with a frown.

There was something about the whole situation that really bugged him and judging from the tapping of a dress shoe by his side, it also bothered Sanji and not in a rational way. It was instinct and both of them trusted it with everything they had.

"Wind has totally stopped blowing," Sanji nodded, lighting a cigarette with a nervous gesture.

Robin frowned as well, her lip slightly pouting when thinking.

"That is weird, indeed."

"Not just weird, it's dangerous as fuck," Zoro corrected her with a huff. "I sense it. Something's coming our way."

"Same here," Sanji agreed while scowling at Zoro for speaking to a lady in that tone. "I trust my gut. We both do," he added, taking a sided quick glance at Zoro to make sure he was with him in this, and he felt relieved when he nodded, even though he knew he would.

"Then, what do we do?" Robin wondered, starting to get the anxious feeling as well. "Is it, like... immediate danger?"

"I'd dare say so, dear, yes."

"Totally yes."

Oh, well. Both of them agreeing that many times in such a short period of time was really something to be worried about. Something about that made her thoughts kick into strategy mode, trying to sort out a way to fight against a danger which hadn't yet presented but would in no time, apparently. Even though they really didn't know what they'd confront this time. In Sanji's opinion, it'd be a damn big-ass storm, New World's style, obviously.

"Isn't it about time we woke the sleeping beauty up?" Zoro grunted matter-of-factly. "This is her damn job."

Sanji would've almost patted the Marimo's back for managing to refer to Nami with the term 'beauty' if it wasn't for the sarcastic wave in his voice that screamed 'sea witch' instead. So instead of that, he kicked his shin for good measure, gaining a surprised gasp from Zoro, who glared at him with kill intent. That had hurt, dammit.

"I agree with our swordsman," Robin said matter-of-factly. "Just in case. Even if she's in a weakened state, a little bit of expert advice wouldn't do us any harm, would it?"

Now she was looking at Sanji since he was the only one to convince, but his expression told them he didn't need any more justifying either.

"Yes, yes, I agree as well," he sighed. "We need her. But we can't let her make any extra efforts." His voice roughened when pronouncing the last words, making them understand that he'd do anything to make that sure.

The trio nodded at the same time, Zoro slightly pissed, Robin thoughtful and Sanji plainly worried that they had to bother Nami with that shit. But as soon as they came to terms with what to do, they were already heading towards the infirmary almost like a little army, Zoro leading the group. Once he stepped outside though, he stopped for an instant before Sanji bumped into him, cursing him but then stopping as well when he realised what the marimo was paying attention to.

"Oh, my", Robin muttered behind them.

Sanji's eye widened and the anxious feeling of danger _right there and then _overwhelmed him. He'd seen it coming. But not that fast.

"Shit."

The sky was now rock grey, not a scratch of blue or white or any other color that dared break the solidity of the now menacing sky. It was fucking blue just a minute ago, how the hell had those clouds appeared and taken any sun ray away? Suddenly it was cold and the atmosphere was oppressing. Suddenly the sky seemed too close to them and too dark and solid for comfort. But still, no wind blowed.

"What the actual..."

"Hey!" Zoro shouted to get the rest of the crew's attention.

"Wait!" Sanji ordered catching him by the shoulder and turning the muscular body towards him only to face a stubborn surprised look.

"What now", the green haired inquired with an edge of threat in his voice.

"Wait until we tell Nami", he explained himself, trying to control the urge to kick back inside the marimo's mouth any responses he could come up with against his point. Which said marimo was about to do with a frown before Robin cut in with a calm tone that ordered them not to start a stupid scene.

"He's right, if she has any instructions to give us, we rather get the crew moving with them rather than blindly doing so."

"Heard her? You're so wise, Robin!"

"Shut your curly face."

"And what was that, Marimo?!"

"What the hell? Why's the sky suddenly so grey?" a bubbly voice asked, not far away. "When did it get like this? Franky, is it gonna rain?"

"And how should I know? I'm not a _super_ navigator!"

Sanji exchanged a quick look with Zoro, who frowned even deeper. The crew were gathering on deck, starting to wonder what was going on by themselves but apparently still oblivious of what was coming their way. Now they were both sure of it, they were about to be screwed by something they couldn't cut or kick, which was a remarkable problem considering that that was the only thing they could do against it. They were no Nami. Leave it to her to get them out of this kind of enemy. And that is why they needed her now.

"Let's get this shit done", Zoro urged with a tight voice. Sanji nervously nodded, playing with his cigarette as a way of distracting himself. Zoro noticed his hand wasn't exactly steady which only served to worsen his already tense mood. He just hoped the cook would get a hold of himself. Hell, he trusted him to, but he had seen that look that same morning and he didn't know if or when the blonde's mask would shatter again. Last thing they needed right now was that, to be fair.

He was taken away of his thoughts as Sanji rushed to the infirmary without giving him a second look with steady and quite confident steps, Robin following him and gesturing to Zoro to do the same.

Chopper raised his head when he heard them coming in and showed them surprised brown eyes that hid right away when turning to look at Nami, who was currently trying to weakly sit up with a hand clutching her hair and a painful look in her face.

"Oi, sea witch, did you feel it too?" Zoro asked without waiting a blink, blunt as his swords.

"I swear, you damn moss-head, if you don't show her some fucking respect I'll..."

"Yes, I've- I have felt it too..." Nami managed with a frown, her eyes still closed. "Something's off... What- what's going on?"

Zoro looked at the ceiling for a moment while containing a sigh and felt the cook's eyes stuck on his face. When he slightly turned to look at him he saw in his expression the same aggravated worry he was feeling himself. Well, it was no longer an hypothesis. If Nami had sensed it too, even when being drugged and numb, they were officially fucked up.

"The sky is totally plumb grey", Robin explained when either of them seemed to look for an answer outside of each other's eyes. "The wind just completely stopped blowing a while ago and the sky was deep blue with no clouds anywhere to be seen. And now, in the blink of an eye, it has just turned like this. No wind is blowing yet."

"Ugh... Damn... This is bad. Help me up", Nami ordered when realising she couldn't get up by herself without falling face first to the ground. She scolded herself. It wasn't time to be weak. She was sensing a change in the atmosphere she didn't like one bit. It definitely meant trouble and she had to be up to guide the crew through it. It was almost there, she could feel it. "Hurry up!"

"Nami, darling, you can't," Sanji objected, finally leaving Zoro's eyes to approach the redhead with both hands extended in a concealing gesture that made it seem like he was about to touch fragile glass.

"Shut up, Sanji, I'm fine," Nami cut him with a fiery glare. "Help me get up."

"Seriously now, Nami, you can't in this condition, you'll only harm yourself more than I already..." this time it was himself who cut the sentence mid-air in a shallow gasp when he realised what he had been about to say. Definitely something he had promised the redhead not to mention. And she must have realized where his mind was going because she stabbed him with an angry dark look in her eyes telling him to shut up for good.

Zoro looked at his back with the deepest scowl he'd been wearing all day. Rage had taken the best of him again and his hand twitched against the hilt of his swords as he did his best to keep his mouth shut and overlook the unfinished thought. Seriously now, this was beginning to get into his nerves. And he hadn't even seen the bastard's face when saying it. But, oh man, didn't he want to break things just by hearing the slightly wrecked voice that had momentarily slipped past Sanji's mask! Just... _j__ust_... Agh!

"Cook's right, you stay here and tell us what to do," he managed. And his own voice was so tense he feared it would break into a roar. He had to remind himself it wasn't time for that, they needed all of their brains switched in the same direction to face their current problem. But really, if he had to hear or see or fucking _feel_ Sanji being this much self-despising one more time, he was just going to snap.

"You both better shut up and help me," Nami growled at the same time she brought a hand to her forehead. Dammit, the painkillers got her good. "Robin?"

"It's better if you just give us instructions, Nami," Robin said softly. But her eyes were mandatory.

"But at least I have to see it!" she complained, now getting really upset.

"Guys..." Chopper interrupted with a weak shy voice that exposed the fact that he felt like he was being excluded and didn't really want to interfere. That caught Zoro's attention first. He had always had a soft point for the furry little reindeer, specially when he was like this. So he forced his scowl to vanish and gave him a soft look that encouraged him to go on. "What's going on? Are we in danger?"

Sanji shut Zoro's answer down when he saw Nami's mouth struggling to mutter something and got close to her lips to listen better, feeling there was something important she wanted to tell them but failing miserably as he didn't get a sound out of her.

"Nami, dear, what is it? What are you trying to tell us?"

He could see the effort she was putting in the way her frown creased and her lips kept moving with the hope something would come out of them. Drugs must be still having their effects on her.

"-est.."

"What was that again?" he encouraged her rubbing a gentle circle on her shoulder with the palm of his hand.

"W-..."

Another frustrated silence and Sanji was seriously thinking of kicking Chopper to knock him out since he was apparently making a fuss behind him with Zoro trying to calm him down and not letting him properly hear his beloved Nami. Ugh, he really should contain those impulses, Chopper was, like, the most adorable thing in the world, not to mention their emergency food supply, so he definitely shouldn't be thinking of harming him. He switched his attention to Nami again, getting frustrated.

"Come o.."

"West."

"What?"

"We need to sail west, we need to go west! West!" Nami screeched, suddenly panicking and trying to stand up by herself while pushing Sanji aside. "Guys, we have to immediately go...!"

Her sentence never made it completely through her parched lips as a sudden collision sent them all flying against the walls of the infirmary, Sanji barely catching Nami with protective hands to minimize her impact. Had to thank his gentleman instincts, they always seemed to be right. Well, not always... _Shit! Can't start thinking about this now!_

Another heavy collision took a toll on them and Robin had to hold them all to the wall with sprouting arms that pinned them tight so that they wouldn't end up colliding against the opposite side of the infirmary. After that second shock, everything went to crazy motion and nothing was steady anymore.

After that second collision, everything was chaos.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi guys! Hope you've been liking the fic so far! I know, big cliffhanger hehe.. I'm sorry if the plot is being slow but I'm the kind who likes it to slowly develop and grow, specially when it comes to relationships and stuff like that! Let me know what you think! :D


	6. Chapter 6 - I Need You here

**Chapter 6**

**I Need You Here**

* * *

"Nami!"

The redhead had gotten out of his hold at some point when his head had slammed against wood and strength had rushed out of his body for a split second. She was trying to get out of the infirmary by herself with an unsteady pace but was thrown against the bed dragging blood bags and tubes no longer attached to her body. Sanji was there to catch her and almost fell himself when another crash hit the Sunny, making him display a colourful range of curses and insults directed to no one in particular.

But Nami was trying to get out of his grasp again and Sanji pulled her closer in an attempt to keep her still, effectively keeping her arms and upper body trapped against his chest, something that had only ever happened in his best dreams but was now kind of irrelevant as it was happening out of desperation to keep her safe. _Desperation_. Fuck.

"Sanji, let me go! I need to get us out of here!" she ordered with half the force her voice should have imprinted.

"You can't in this state!" Sanji dared to object, his voice almost a plea. But the redhead still struggled and Sanji was beginning to seriously don't know what to do anymore. If she was a guy she would have already been knocked out for good, but he couldn't do such a thing to a woman... not even to keep her safe? Dammit, this thing had never been so complicated, he had always known what to do! But why not now? Why was he...? Nope, not going there.

"Chopper!" he called, looking for the little reindeer with a quick sweep of his eyes around the room until he found him trapped in Zoro's arms in a protective gesture while the swordsman stood weirdly still in the middle of the collisions, boring a hole in Sanji's forehead, something the blond didn't pay attention to as it was the last of his current concerns. "Sedate her! We need to immobilize her so that she doesn't get hurt, she can't be out there like this!"

"What the hell, Sanji! Don't you dare decide what I have to do!" Nami yelled turning back at him to hit him in the head but finding no strength to do it as her body was starting to scream for rest. Then she turned to Chopper with a menacing look: "Chopper don't you dare! You know you need me! You'd rather have to take care after me after this or find yourself with a whole hurt crew?!"

The reindeer winced and Sanji was ready to break things as he saw his last hope slowly go away from their doctor's eyes.

"Chopper..." he pleaded, unknowing of what to do. What the hell was he doing? He needed the reindeer to collaborate, he fucking needed him right now, he couldn't let Nami get worse just because he couldn't prote... "Damn, Chopper, she's your patient!" he yelled at him, quickly losing his temper.

Man, was Zoro pissed. He had seen it coming. But the desperation in the cook's eyes and voice... Fuck! What the fuck was he doing! He had always been over-protective over their ladies but... But... Why the hell did the way Sanji was acting feel so wrong?

"Look, Chopper, I think Sanji's right..." a soft voice next to him said. And somehow they managed to hear her even over the raging storm they were now trapped in. "And we need to hurry up."

In fact it had only been a matter of seconds, it was likely that less than a minute had passed since the first shock, but still, each second counted now, and they were losing precious time.

"Robin, you too?" Nami exhaled, betrayed. "You need me!"

"And that's exactly why you'll do as we say!" Sanji bursted, finally losing it as he carefully but forcefully put her in bed, receiving a scratch on the cheek as a reward as Nami uselessly tried to escape again. A vein was pulsing in Sanji's neck and Zoro thought it might just explode right there. "Chopper!" the cook roared, this time with a furious edge to it.

The reindeer still had doubts written all over his face though. Sanji saw it and his face went from rage to desperation, from desperation to rage and back to despair until they dangerously reached the line Zoro couldn't stand, a ghost of defeat dancing somewhere in the blue of his irises. _Not again, fucking not again_, _not now!,_ his mind furiously screamed. Then everything turned into a plea in the cook's face.

Zoro couldn't take it anymore and before he reduced the infirmary to dust he brusquely turned Chopper to face him with a snarl.

"Do as he says!" he ordered with as much restrain as he could, which was quite poor. The doctor looked up at him with fearful eyes, taken aback by the furiously aggressive expression in the swordsman's face.

Zoro tried to calm himself down. They didn't have much time and he knew it, not that he would forget with Robin's eyes murdering them all for all the precious seconds they were throwing away. He had to remind himself that somewhere on deck was a rubber idiot who'd drown like a damn hammer if someone didn't keep an eye on him. "You know she can't do this and if she goes up there she'll just end up hurting herself and getting that curly idiot hurt as well!"

He tried to make it sound like convincing reasoning but it really sounded like an order and Chopper ended up nodding, gaining resolve as he struggled to get to his workplace to gather the sedatives he needed and falling to the ground two times as nothing was steady anymore.

"immobilize her," he ordered in his best doctor voice.

Sanji nodded and tried to ignore the fact that the marimo had just hugely helped him there as he had no time to be thankful whatsoever. They needed to save their butts and they were already running late.

"Robin! Please go up and tell the rest we need to head west!" he said over his shoulder as he fought with Nami to keep her still. Really, was he fighting with Nami? Robin let out a quick "yes" and he heard her leave the room in a rush managing not to fall with the violent shocks.

Then his attention turned to Nami only to see her eyes starting to get wet with tears of frustration. The confusion the remaining effects of the drugs caused probably had something to do with it as well.

Sanji's chest clenched at this and he felt like he couldn't look. Damn, he hated seeing women crying with all his might! But he forced his eyes on her, stubborn and decided. Nami was threatening him with bills and interests and shit but he had long disconnected and now his brain was only focused on pinning her down by the wrists and keeping her lower body still with one of his legs pressing her hips against the mattress. Fuck, he hated himself for that! Was he really doing this to poor Nami? Was he really doing this to a woman? He forbid his brain to think and concentrated on adding strength to his hold since the redhead was still struggling and, damn, was she a strong woman, drugged up and all.

Sanji realized he was muttering something to her telling her to please, _please_ stay still, and asking her for forgiveness. Not that she was listening to him at that point. She fiercely snarled at him ordering him to let her go and losing her will as she slowly lost strength, but still fought. What the hell was Chopper doing, they didn't have all day!

Then realization came that his grip on her wrists was too strong, that he was probably hurting her. Not that he could loosen up a bit or she'd really escape but still... Shit, how was he...? And he realised his hands were trembling. His hands, his precious hands he was always so sure of, those hands that almost never doubted. Fuck.

Something inside him told him that he was doing the right thing and that he was overreacting but every single bit of his instincts, the ones he had always trusted so much, screamed to him that it was wrong, that, for fuck's sake, he was forcing his will onto a lady, if not physically hurting her! Seriously now, Sanji was ready to scream and kill something.

Suddenly, a strong pair of hands darker than his appeared in his view and held Nami's wrists from a lower point than him, the side of the tanned palms grazing his.

Sanji's head snapped up and met a furious steel eye stucked to his.

"I've got her," Zoro told him in a soft tone that didn't quite match his pissed expression. Maybe that's why Sanji retreated without complaining, leaving the resisting redhead to the swordsman.

He hadn't realized Zoro was still there. Didn't think he would stick there, he was needed outside. But he felt a wave of relief through his veins when he let his image sink in. Even when he was forcefully holding Nami down. Sanji released a breath he didn't even know he was holding and let a hand wander through his gold locks, concentrating on his trembling to stop. _Thank God he's here, _he found himself thinking. And much to his annoyance, he meant it.

Zoro tried to reduce the strain he was putting on Nami's wrists, they were really not at fault. But the rage inside him threatened to explode at some point and he was having a hard time not letting hell break loose right then and there. His hands had been _trembling_. Fucking cook's hands had been trembling. Zoro clenched his jaw and forced himself to get that image out of his head but he had seen it and the idea was disturbing and annoying and stupid and everything Zoro could say he hated because that was _so not_ like the cook. He had had to restrain himself from pressing his own hands over Sanji's to stop the fucking trembling once and for all but he had some self-restraint left and reduced his impulses to simply replace the cook and make him get the fuck away, see if he got a hold of himself so that his hands would stay the fuck steady, which, much to his relieve, they were starting to. At one point he just wondered what was his life when his current biggest desire and goal was to punch that blonde's face to the point of rearranging it until it was no longer recognisable. He shook his head mentally, not to that point maybe, he liked the cook's fa... Wait, what the fuck was that?!

Another hit made the whole ship tremble and shake violently and they all had trouble getting a grasp of something steady not to fall where the impact led them. Chopper was cursing when he got to Nami's side with a syringe full of a weird liquid. He shot an imperative look at Zoro, who ignored Nami's cussing and threatening and gave the doctor room to inject the sedative into the redhead's system while he kept her still. Only a few seconds passed until she stopped struggling and slowly closed her eyes with a confused and betrayed look.

"W-west... we need... need to... We-st..." she managed with a hoarse voice.

"We know," Zoro answered, reassuringly, even if he didn't know if the redhead had heard him.

"Help me tie her down so that she doesn't get hurt," Chopper ordered.

Zoro looked at Sanji when he approached and did as he was told, no expression whatsoever on his face as he helped the swordsman until Nami was securely tied down to the mattress. The blonde hadn't looked him in the eye once even if Zoro's own gaze was insisting enough for him to have noticed from miles away.

"Okay", Chopper said when he was satisfied. Another collision with what they supposed was a huge wave sent them flying to different directions. The reindeer looked scared but he didn't hesitate when he looked back at them after finding a secure place to hold to. "Now run to deck, you two. They need you up there so go do something. I stay with her. Out!"

Zoro and Sanji both nodded at the same time and stumbled to the door almost falling on each other. Sanji closed the door behind them as useless as that gesture was at that moment and went ahead of Zoro. The swordsman wasn't surprised when he registered his own hand flying to the cook, grabbing his front shirt and tie and aggressively slamming Sanji to the nearest wall, knocking the air out of him and approaching the blonde until his nose was almost touching his. Only for a moment. A foot planted on his chest reminded him of the cook's talents and he was forced back to give him some space but managed to keep a rock arm against the blonde's chest, still pinning him to the wall.

"The fuck's that for?!" Sanji hissed, his eyes pissed as ever.

"Pull your shit together," Zoro ordered with an edge of a threat in his voice.

"And what the fuck does that mean, moss-head?! You got a problem with something? The moss you store in your skull is too thick for any healthy brain cell to grow there?"

Zoro was really losing it. Nearly lost it there. But he didn't train and meditate for nothing, he reminded himself. _Stay calm, stay calm_... was his mantra as his eye searched for any signs of everything he hated to see in Sanji's blue one. But it wasn't there. Only that pissed off look he always seemed to wear (when he didn't wear the mocking one, that is) when he looked at him. His ordinary self was staring back at him. Not someone he didn't recognise, not some defeated stranger, but the Sanji he knew. Even though he had seen that look just moments before. Dammit, how much of a mindfuck could the cook be?! How quick could he put on his mask when he lost it? Was it even a mask? Zoro told his mind to shut the fuck up and summarised what he needed the cook to know in one sentence.

"I _need_ you here, cook."

Zoro thought he had caught a glimpse of... something in Sanji's iris. But then the blonde blinked and it was gone.

"I _am_ here, moss-head," was the short reply. Short but convinced. Short but steady and firm. Short but badass and defying. Short but fucking _confident_. Everything Sanji was meant to be. Zoro almost let a relieved sigh out. Almost. A weird weight in his chest and his pride cut the instinctive action in the process.

"You better be," he said while releasing his hold. Sanji took the opportunity and shoved him away helping himself with the foot he had already planted in Zoro's chest, earning a murdering look from the swordsman.

"It's about fucking time we got going."

Sanji saw Zoro nod but he was already heading the way out. What the fuck had that been? What the fuck, what the fuck, _what the fuck_? Why had he suddenly felt naked in front of the swordsman just there? What the hell had that look the marimo had given him been? Why the fuck had his heart clenched into a fist when Zoro had told him he needed him there? Fucking _needed_ him? Really? Just, really, what the hell had that been!

His thoughts stopped mid-track as he put his first foot outside and almost fell on the process as a wave swept the deck with the force of the whole storm.

"Shit!"

Zoro was right beside him then. They both stood for brief seconds there, planted, as they watched Mother Nature's show display before them. Sanji suddenly felt the fear of not making it through. Zoro gaped as he tried to get around the fact that they'd have to face it without Nami. And both brains seemed to connect when they reached the conclusion that they were utterly fucked. That was by far the worst storm they had ever seen coming. They were already in it but still far from the center of it. They could see it coming, a huge wave approaching from the horizon, the sky raging on them, thunder and lightning everywhere, rain falling with so much force that it hurt their skin, almost bruising, the ocean a fucking hell of waves that hadn't left a single point of stability anywhere, Sunny barely and magically maintaining balance in the middle of that nightmare.

"What have we gotten into...?" Sanji barely spoke, his voice slightly trembling. Zoro turned to him and as Sanji slowly set his gaze on his, they both knew this was gonna be tough and shitty and they were probably gonna die. But just as sure as that, they came to the silent agreeing that they'd fight as they always did, and sealed their unspoken promise with a determinate glance.

Zoro turned to deck and fully faced the storm as he completely got to the exterior, looking for his nakama and hearing their shouts and orders but not seeing them as the rain was too thick for them to distinguish pretty much anything near them.

"We are sailing west!" he roared, hoping they would hear. Some confirming shouts told him they had. Sanji was by his side when they heard a cry coming from somewhere on deck.

"Luffy has fallen overboard!"

Really, now, could his day get any worse?

* * *

**A/N: **sooooo, another cliffhanger! Sorry about that! hehe

Working on the next chapters, I'm trying to update weekly! Hope you liked it! Please, review if you want, it really helps! :D


	7. Chapter 7 - The Storm

**Chapter 7**

**The Storm**

* * *

That was a mother of a storm. The fucking queen of storms, hands down. Zoro couldn't picture it getting any worse than this.

His hand shot to get a grasp of Sanji's arm when the blonde darted away from him the moment he heard their captain's death call. He lost him and only managed to yell at him to come back before the curtain of water currently hitting on them gulped his silhouette. Shit.

Sanji spotted a familiar figure as he approached whoever that was, running at top speed. He caught an elbow and turned the man to him, a familiar long nose almost grazing his as Usopp jumped in the air in shock at the unexpected contact.

"Luffy?" Sanji asked urgently, shaking his arm to encourage his friend's brain to work fast.

"He fell!"

"I know! Where?" Sanji clarified with a snarl. He really didn't have time for this. A huge wave collided and wiped the deck in a blink of an eye and Sanji found himself gripping for dear life at the mast and holding Usopp by his side, effectively preventing him from being thrown off the rail. Dammit, they were lucky they weren't all already swept away and drowning in the ocean. He couldn't begin to understand how Sunny was even managing to stay afloat. His attention snapped to a very terrified Usopp coughing his lungs out as he had probably choked on a considerable amount of water.

"Usopp, where did he fall?!" Sanji insisted with a hoarse yell that ended up with a cough and salty water escaping his mouth. Usopp managed to point left and Sanji nodded, pulling the long-nose close to give some last orders. "Tell the others we are going West! Tell Franky I don't give a shit about how he gets us out of here, but once I get Luffy back, course is West!"

He didn't wait for the other's assent as he ran to the rail getting rid of his tie and jacket and kicking his shoes goodbye since he knew he'd never find them again once he lost sight of them. He heard someone call his name over the roaring of waves, wind, the fucking flood and thunder, but his head was already breaking down the ocean's current hell of a surface, a painful hit against his skin as freezing cold took over his body.

He couldn't even manage a stroke before he was brutally dragged back by the force of a wave underwater, his body violently slamming against what he assumed was Sunny's hull. For a moment he lost all sense of direction and self-awareness as the only thing that existed around him that his brain was able to process was black, sharp pain and the damn current pinning him against his own ship underwater, his limbs useless against such force unless he regained some concentration. Which he did as soon as he could, forcing his brain to work out a way to get him out of there and seemingly succeeding when his legs received the order to start moving for dear life and they did, propelling himself until he managed to get his head out in the air, gasping for oxygen only to be dragged down again by another gigantic motherfucking wave. Second try got better results as he managed to actually inhale something that wasn't salty water. He did his best to keep himself afloat, his eyes scanning his surroundings for any sign of his captain but not finding any.

The Sunny was suddenly quite far away but he could still see it and get back in time if needed. Shit, with the ocean being a bitch like this it didn't really matter that Luffy had fallen down the left side of the ship, he could be anywhere by now, just hopefully not dead yet. Sanji growled in exasperation, his heart drumming in his chest while his lungs tried to work a stable rhythm that allowed him to not choke.

"Luffy!" he called at the top of his lungs, really not giving the poor things a little consideration for their hard work in trying to keep him alive. He received no answer, not that he expected one. Damn, he was _so_ getting his captain back and kicking him for good measure when he managed to fucking find him and get him on deck!

"Luffy!" he tried again, his voice starting to get hoarse.

Not wasting any more time, he drowned again, kicking with everything he had to allow himself to move against the ocean's will and forcing his eyes open even if they started itching. It was so dark though, it was almost pitch black. How was he supposed to get a glimpse of Luffy with his equally black hair? If it had been blonde or reddish, or _green_ for that matter, it would have been easier to spot him. It wouldn't have made a big difference but at least it would have helped. His lungs pleaded him for a break and Sanji kicked towards what he hoped was the surface, since he had practically lost all sense of direction.

Gasping, he realized the Sunny was nearby again, barely fighting the giant waves that sent the ship up and down at a dangerous pace. He just hoped no one would have fallen from deck.

"Damn stupid captain..." he muttered before submerging again. It was too dark, he could barely see his own hands moving in front of him. His lungs were burning again, but he forced himself under water yet a bit more, determined to get Luffy back at all costs. He knew he wouldn't be able to face the crew ever again if he didn't get on board with Luffy. So he wouldn't go back without him. Simple as that. When his head reached the surface again, a huge violent wave crashed against his face and sent sharp pain inside his ear, which suddenly felt like it had bursted. Sanji let out a groaned gasp but decided to ignore it and submerged one more time, which only resulted in his ear bursting into deafening pain. Which he ignored again. He had to find him... Where the hell was the idiot he had for a captain, dammit?

Suddenly there was a breathtaking bolt of lightning that sent reflections through the water. And in between the white and blue momentarily sparkling in the blackness, there was a flash of familiar red, almost like the one Luffy usually dressed in. Sanji's heart skipped a beat and his legs kicked with everything they had to get to the point where he had seen it, now gulped by blackness again. _Please, let it be Luffy. Please, let it be him_.

* * *

Zoro clutched at the railing whitening his knuckles with pressure when a gigantic wave crashed against the Thousand Sunny and swept everything on deck, hitting his back full force and threatening to throw him overboard. He waited for the never ending amount of water to reverse again and regained the breath he'd been holding. That had been close. He looked around to see if everyone was okay, and as if the unforgiving skies had read his mind and decided to be lenient with him for a change, a bolt of lighting lighted his surroundings up, allowing him to brush his gaze along the deck to check if everyone was still on it. When he mentally checked on them, he glared at the raging ocean again, blinking to get salt and heavy rain drops out of his eye. No sign of blond hair or rubbery limbs yet. Shit, it had already been too long! What the hell was the idiot cook doing?!

He suddenly spotted something far away but his eye proved him wrong when he concentrated on it, infuriatingly letting him know it had just been his imagination. Nothing there. Nothing anywhere. Aside from huge raging waves that were currently actively working on making the sea their personalized pure hell. Roaring thunder deafened him for an instant just after he had had to close his eyes when a bolt of lightning threatened to make him blind. He was starting to get annoyed now.

An unexpected painful loud crack reached his ears just as they started working again and he turned around in time to see the mast break. And it would have fallen down hadn't Franky made a show of inhuman strength to keep it in place to later secure it with fast precise motions involving lots of iron sheets and nails the size of his fist. That reminded him why Franky was the best fucking shipwright they could have ever found. They had to give him huge credit for that. Once he was sure the cyborg had the situation under control and the mast was temporarily fixed, he turned again to scour the sea. He hadn't missed Franky's expression while putting the mast back into place, though. It spoke volumes as to how screwed they were. Which was _a lot_.

Zoro frowned as his brain debated on what to do. They were real fucked, the mast had probably been their last warning. Where the hell were their captain and cook? What was taking Sanji so long? As much as he dreaded admitting it, Sanji was probably the best swimmer their crew counted with and he trusted his legs to propel him against the waves, even as monstrous as they were but... Ugh, he had to put a little bit of faith on the cook. He could do it and it would be terribly disrespectful of Zoro to doubt him.

He gave him five more minutes. If he wasn't back within that time, the swordsman himself would jump in and look for the idiots. Not that he was worried for them or anything. Nope. Noooot the case.

"I can see them!"

Zoro turned around with an aggressive gesture that put his secured position in danger for a moment as a wave hit him once again. He saw Usopp gesturing over everyone, trying to get the crew's attention, probably not sure if his call would reach them or if they could even see him or not.

Zoro stomped against the current and miraculously reached the other side alive and still on deck, where Usopp was already giving Franky some indications. Zoro all but threw himself against the railing, almost falling over. His gaze swept the surface and finally saw Sanji dragging Luffy (who was clutching to his precious straw hat even when unconscious) against the waves and towards the ship. Zoro had to suppress a victorious proud grin and instead leaned even more, taking advantage of the monstrous swaying the ship had been forced into to reach for the cook when their side almost touched the surface. His hand grasped Sanji's back shirt and Franky, who had had the same idea, took a hold of Luffy. When the ship rocked to the other side and their railing lifted in the air, they both dragged their nakama with them, not letting go until they were pulled to deck. With the new inclination Zoro lost footing and both him and the cook flew down to the other side, luckily crashing against the other railing instead of falling overboard.

Zoro cleared his dizzy head and realized Sanji was choking beside him, face down. A sudden rush made him turn Sanji around and plant his hand against the cook's chest with force as he slammed him against the wooden deck, effectively making him cough and spit water out of his system. Then, he fisted the front of his shirt and helped him stand upright in a half sitting position so that he wouldn't choke again.

"Hey."

With the wet long blonde strands covering his face he couldn't get a glimpse of his expression, being only left with hoarse painful-to-hear coughs. So Zoro took the cook's jaw in his strong hand and forced Sanji to face him and fall under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Hey. You alright?"

Sanji slapped his hand and coughed away while nodding reassuringly and grabbing the railing so that he could provide some stability for himself. Zoro's hand wandered in the air around the cook's frame, ready to catch him if he slipped or something. A protective gesture neither of them seemed to notice.

"Where's the idiot?" Sanji managed with a torn hoarse voice.

Zoro looked up and saw Brook taking Luffy to the infirmary, his rubbery slim body hanging numbly in his bony arms. Only his tortured whiney expression told them he was still alive and kicking.

"Taken care of. He's fine," Zoro informed, relaxing a bit when he heard the blond's breathing a little more stable.

A sudden shock violently pinned them against the railing and their breaths were caught until a gigantic stream of water passed them by. Zoro realized he'd been protectively grabbing Sanji's arm with enough strength as to stop his circulation but the blond was too occupied coughing his lungs out to bother. He probably didn't even know what was going on anymore. Not that Zoro had a much better clue.

Then he heard a screech overpowering the thunder and both his and Sanji's head snapped out in search of its owner. Usopp was pointing somewhere with his knees trembling enough as to clack against each other. He was already soaked but it wouldn't be exactly weird if he had pissed himself, not with the expression he was currently making. Their gaze switched to follow the long-nose's and their eyes grew wide at the sight.

Water 7's tsunami was a joke. It was the most hilarious joke compared to the monster that was currently heading towards them at increasing speed, breaking through the waves that had been causing the Strawhat's so much trouble to stay afloat, as if it was a knife cutting through warmed up butter.

"Shit..." Sanji's voice was barely a whisper, almost a breath. Well, at least he managed some light cursing out, Zoro didn't even seem to find neither words or voice in his throat. He just sat there, eye wide open as his heart froze in place. It was only on really rare occasions that Zoro acknowledged death. He definitely had back in Thriller Bark. But back there, he had been sure he'd leave an alive crew behind, so he hadn't really been afraid. No, shit, he _had,_ he had been _terrified_ when he saw the cook step in front of him to take his place instead. It had fucking been quite a peaceful thing to do, waiting for death to come in order to save his loved ones, that until the biggest idiot he had ever met had stumbled in front of him, looking like a total wreck but giving the vibe of a badass motherfucker.

Zoro could count the times he'd experienced true fear with his fingers. That had been one of them. Feeling his body paralyzed as his brain realized Sanji was going to die for his sake, for the sake of his dream. And what about his fucking dream? What about All Blue? The fear had been strong enough so that he almost didn't do anything to avoid it. Almost. A primal instinct made him stand and knock the cook out, meeting his betrayed eyes as Sanji fell, pale hand barely brushing his tanned arm. The only thing he could feel was relief since he knew the blonde wouldn't die on him. Then, calm again. He hadn't feared his death. He had feared his captain's one and he had been terrified about Sanji's. Simple as that.

So now, when reality hit him that not only he was most likely going to die but also his whole crew, he almost lost all strength left in him. They couldn't fight that. What was coming was too much, even for them, even after two years of training to become the strongest.

Sanji's cursing brought him back and his eye followed the cook's to see what the hell else was utterly wrong.

And all hope faded.

Right behind the approaching monster of a tsunami there was a line painting the horizon way higher than it should have been. Much like if the sky had been cut. Just that it wasn't the sky, nor a game colours and edges were playing on them. Behind the potential cause of the Strawhat's death was something worse. That couldn't even be called a wave, that was monstrous, something his mind would have never pictured hadn't he seen it with his own eye. It wasn't even a wave, it was a fucking wall, it was the fucking ocean having decided to fuck gravity and stand vertical eating the sky. Fucking Sea Kings would've looked like insects swimming in it. Not that they could survive _that_ either. He could tell it was still really far away but that was hardly a consolation since if it was already this terrifying from far, he didn't even want to know what it would be like when up close. Though they'd only see it if they survived the first hit, coming at worrying speed. Even if they were lucky enough, they weren't going to survive the second one. It wasn't the possibility of death toying with them anymore, it was the certainty that it was three steps away of knocking at their door with no way to rewind their upcoming fate.

"Shit, Zoro..."

His bleary gaze focused on the cook, who only looked back when the swordsman had settled his eye on him, a numb expression on his face. Sanji's one was simply terrified.

"We're not making it this time..." Sanji chirped with lost voice. Zoro could see he was looking for a negative in his own steel eye, but he couldn't bring himself to mutter one. He really couldn't. He suddenly felt helpless, helpless and small. He weakly shook his head, not leaving the cook's eye, which was the only thing he could focus on right then.

The only thing that softened the utter despair he was feeling. Sanji's eyes were still bright blue despite the storm. The kind of blue one dreamed of when thinking of the sea. The kind of blue that radiated hope, warmth and mirth. Just that all of those emotions were lost in the cook's eye and it just felt wrong. But it was still Sanji's blue. The blue he had come to know and the blue that, just then Zoro realized, had come to be his favourite shade.

Zoro blinked away his line of thought, not really sure where it was going, when Sanji opened his mouth to speak over the thunder and hell they were in. So he looked directly at his lips, trying to figure out his words with a pang in his chest. He didn't even know why it felt so urgent but it did. He was terrified, he didn't know if those were the last words he'd ever hear Sanji say.

Yeah, Roronoa Zoro was scared, not knowing what to do. Terribly so. And for the first time he wasn't really ashamed to admit it to himself. Not that he was gonna admit it to the world, he still was Roronoa Fucking Zoro, but he could recognize fear when he felt it. And now his body was paralyzed because of it, not being able to do anything but concentrate on the man in front of him as he spoke his words.

And, just as if it he had a hidden button in his body he didn't know of, it was exactly the cook doing something stupid that dragged him out of his stupor and kicked his body into motion. Again. Just like in Thriller Bark.

"Sorry," was the word.

Zoro blinked at this.

What.

The.

Actual.

Fuck.

The defeated look was there again and Zoro wasn't even sure what the tight apologize was for, but there was only so much he could do for not assuming the meaning. And his eyes. His blue eyes were glassy as the only thing he could find in them was guilt.

No.

He was so not going to let that happen. _Nothing_ was his fault. And the idiot was blaming his every bone and Zoro couldn't take it, not even for a moment. The thought of them maybe dying and Sanji doing so while thinking it was his fucking fault pressed all the right buttons and Zoro just snapped, aggressively reaching for him and clutching both his cheeks with his big calloused hands, forcing Sanji to look up at him as he closed the distance between them and crashing his forehead against the cook's, see if the motion helped get through his thick skull that nothing of what was happening to them was his fucking fault. He was about to yell exactly that to his face... when another yell froze them both in place.

"Grab anything you can, bros! Coup de Burst is ready to send us flying!"

Steel fixed in cerulean blue, they just stood there, boring a hole in each other's irises as realization sunk in. And they were nose touching nose, Zoro's mouth slightly agape as just a second ago he had been about to yell his lungs out.

"Shit," was all Sanji could muster out.

Usopp and Robin ran inside and they already heard the engines working as they were about to fly. Zoro immediately kicked into motion and stood up to get inside since that was the safer option, but the air was knocked out of his lungs as a kick sent him backwards and pinned him against the railing by the hip in a bruising hold. His head snapped towards Sanji as he formed a deep pissed frown only to be met by Sanji's deeper one.

"No time," Sanji explained as if he was giving him an order. Which he pretty much was, taking into account how his leg had him pinned and incapable of moving away without a fight. The message was quite clear. And Sanji decided to make it translucent by aggressively grabbing one of his hands and leading it to the railing so that he got a tight hold of it as Sanji followed suit and did the same, never leaving Zoro's eye as a warning.

Zoro should be grateful Sanji had stopped him in time or else he would be flying away with nothing to hold onto.

The blonde had just grasped the railing himself when a sudden burst violently knocked their bodies almost out of deck. They had to clutch for dear life as the ship was sent flying God knows where, more violently than ever, cutting the air and the storm, the heavy rain drops hurting their skin and the wind making it impossible for them to breathe. Sanji's leg proved itself useful keeping Zoro in place even when he should have already fallen overboard with the force leading them. But Sanji seemed to lose strength as it was all gathered in his lower body to pin the swordsman down, so Zoro led one of his stronger arms to cover the cook's chest and get a hold of the railing further ahead, effectively pinning Sanji's torso in the process with his forearm.

Zoro fought to get some air inside his lungs without a reward and finally got to the point where he could only tightly close his eyes and hope and wish and pray – keep in mind he _never_ prayed- that Coup de Burst would make them fly high enough as not to collide with the approaching hell of a tsunami they had just been facing, that hope an endless mantra inside his brain as he really wished they could get out of this one alive. He needed the cook alive to kick his ass later on, he would be really pissed if he didn't get to do it before he died. The fact that his potential last thought was spared on the cook didn't even bother him anymore.

If he had opened his eyes right then, he would have seen Sanji's fixed on his face, wide and filled with something neither of them could have pinpointed, his mind totally blank as his brain could only register the weird heat of Zoro's arm pressed against his damp chest and the fact that he felt a little safer, his leg unconsciously pressing harder against Zoro's hip.

He didn't want the stupid marimo flying away.

* * *

**A/N: **soooooooo... More cliffhangers! Yay! (Sorry about that)

So, where do you think they'll land? What's going to happen now? Are you liking it so far? Awww, Zoro got protective hehehe And Sanji had to save Luffy... again.

Let me know what you think if you have time, it really does help! I struggled a bit with this chapter since there were so many things going on in the middle of that storm and maybe it gets confusing at some point, I don't know, you tell me.. As always there are more chapters to come, let's see what happens next! :D


	8. Chapter 8 - Grateful To Be Alive

**Chapter 8**

**Grateful To Be Alive**

* * *

Zoro put his trousers back in place from where they had been lowered to with a silent sigh. It had left some bad bruising after all. A big one for that matter, crossing its way through his hips from side to side in an abrasive trail.

Not that he blamed the cook, it was that or him probably flying away, no telling where he could have ended up, that if he ended up alive at all. Not that he couldn't have taken care of himself, that would be absurd of course, but, well, Sanji's grip had been of help. So had been his grip against the blonde's chest, and he was pretty sure his torso hadn't gone unbruised either. So yeah, they were even.

Zoro's brain was bugged when he realized they weren't, really. Sanji had pissed him big time just before they had been catapulted across the storm and he hadn't had the opportunity to take his revenge, that consisting of kicking Sanji's ass, if he could choose. It had been three days already.

They had escaped the eye of the storm but that had been a really close call. He probably was right when assuming the whole crew had reached the conclusion they would die that day at some point. Even Luffy. They really had to thank Franky for getting them out of that hell when everyone else's brains had helpfully shut down. If it hadn't been for Franky's capacity to keep his cool even when he also believed it was most likely the end for them, they would have really been buried somewhere under the vast ocean by now.

After that, it had been three days of heavy storm, thunder and pretty damn bad swell, but hey, after what they'd been through right before, none of them complained but instead put their hands and brains to work, depending on each member's stronger habilities. There were more pairs of hands than useful brains.

They hadn't been able to sleep much as only one of them was allowed to take a nap at a time and the swinging and banging of the ship didn't help conceal sleep at all. By the time they reached a shore, they were all ready to fall face first wherever they were standing and sleep for a week.

Sanji had kept running around in between survival chores basically involving keeping the Sunny afloat and heading west, to inject the crew some quick caloric food that kept them going, cooking in between the bumps and falls like a pro but cursing all the while, one time almost burning himself when he lost control during a specially bad horde of waves.

At first they had been directed by Franky, who knew how to work Sunny to full potential. On day two Nami had managed to threaten Chopper into letting her out of the infirmary and stop sedating her and she had organised the crew the way it had to be done, making everything easier as everyone's tasks had reduced to obeying yelled angry orders that really saved their asses.

Well, everything had been easier for everyone except for two poor souls. The first being Sanji as he had almost had a heart attack when he saw Nami out in the storm in her weakened state and had been keeping a protective eye on her while he did the rest of his job, which only made him even more weary if that was possible, both psychologically and physically.

It also made him risk his own life a few times when getting her ass saved of some crushing big wave that wiped their deck more often than not. On one particular time he was thrown in the sea and had barely made it back against the current. That psychologic stress added to the non-stop running around to keep the ship sailing which only brought extreme tiredness to everyone's bodies after hours of battling against the storm without seeming to get to an easy escape. And for Sanji there was the plus of keeping the crew fed in between the mess, barely getting time to rest. Zoro wondered if he had slept at all during those three days. Probably not. Scratch that, _definitely_ not.

Speaking of which, Zoro was the other specially sulking soul on board. I mean, they were all wasted but, man, Sanji was pretty much done for by the time they reached shore, and as a consequence so was Zoro. Sanji taking the extra burden of protecting Nami everywhere she was, meant Zoro kept an extra eye for Sanji since the cook didn't seem to be doing himself this particular favour. And Sanji wearing himself off by running around obeying orders and surviving waves brushing the ship while making escapades to cook for the starving tired crew, doing so while fighting to keep balance as nothing seemed to be stable for three fucking days, and him apparently not sleeping at all if the bags under his eyes were any clue, instantly made Zoro want to have Robin's habilities to add a few more eyes to his own body so that he could use them to keep on Sanji, since one didn't seem enough.

When at one point Sanji had fallen off board he didn't even think before making to jump into the ocean only to be taken aback by Robin's splutter of arms. Which helpfully reminded him that Sanji was far from being weak and needing help at every misstep he took. That didn't stop him from worrying over him and consequently realizing he was over-worrying for the cook, which only annoyed him to no end until his brain switched off and he was only left to follow orders and unconsciously checking on Sanji because that seemed to be a shitty habit he had taken over the last few days, and there was no cure he knew of, which made him annoyed yet again. That resulted in him being generally annoyed the whole time, his scowl deepening to levels the crew had never seen before. Not that anyone had noticed, they were busy enough keeping themselves alive.

All in all, they had been in hell for three days and the crew was now exhausted, two of its main pillars completely worn out, even though they weren't getting any rest anytime soon since Sanji was already closed in the kitchen cooking something for lunch for everyone to regain energies since they hadn't had breakfast that morning and it was the first time in days they stood on relatively stable ground.

As for Zoro, he was currently being supervised by Chopper, who had insisted on checking on every crew member for any injuries they hadn't taken care of in between the mess, starting with Sanji so that he could go and fulfill his duty as a chef.

"You're all good, Zoro," Chopper announced patting his tight with a relieved smile as Zoro finished zipping his pants and putting his haramaki on. "This is some pretty bad bruising but it's as bad as it's going to be."

Zoro nodded and sighed, his gaze falling on the redhead resting on the infirmary bed. She wasn't asleep yet, she had barely laid down a few minutes ago. She was now curiously looking at him. Most likely she hadn't had the decency of looking away even when Zoro's pants were far too lowered. Not that he cared.

"How did you get that?" she asked. Her voice sounded dead tired but if she had been able to endure the last few days leading the crew that meant she was healing fine.

"None of your business," Zoro frowned.

Nami snorted and crossed her arms under her chest, making it generously stand upwards, a gesture Sanji would have surely swooned over, but didn't ask anymore, just rasing an eyebrow at him. She was too tired to argue, which was good, because he was too.

"You should rest," Zoro commented distractedly as he patted Chopper's pink hat and received a smile from the reindeer. Then he looked pointedly at Nami, a neutral expression in his face. "We don't want the love cook to have a heart attack at seeing you not resting _again_."

Nami raised both her eyebrows in mild surprise when she realized the "you should rest" part was directed at her and not the reindeer. Definitely not the kind of exchange she and the stubborn swordsman usually had. If anything, she expected Zoro to be giving her shit for laying down and not doing her damn job. Which picked her attention the most, though, was the half-assed joke about Sanji. A smug smile Zoro didn't like one bit brightened her tired features for a moment.

"Worrying about him, are we?" she teased, a malicious glint in her dark eyes. "Just marry already, you two."

"Shut the fuck up, bitch! Like hell I'd worry about that idiot dart-brow!" Zoro growled, the sea witch getting the best of him since she was a pro at getting under his skin. Not as much as Sanji though. That was most definitely impossible. But either way, Nami knew how to royally piss him off with the same ease as she emptied your pockets and flew away with _your_ money charging you with astronomic interests in the process.

"Zoro, that's rude!" Chopper scowled with a pouting expression that looked more adorable than actually scary or angry. Zoro blinked at the reindeer, who had seemingly decided to take Sanji's place when the blonde wasn't there to defend his ladies.

"You heard Chopper, Zoro, watch your mouth," Nami mocked with an evil grin that did wonders for Zoro's annoyance. "Or I'll have you charged with interests for your foul mouth."

Zoro cringed and gritted his teeth as he stomped out of the room before he did something he later regretted to Nami or worse, ended up with his debts dangerously having escalated to painful figures he didn't want to think of.

"Tell Luffy to come in after you!" Chopper ordered. Zoro only nodded.

He heard Nami yawn and then whine as the gesture seemed to have caused her some pain. Zoro's expression softened as he walked away. If he was honest with himself, Nami had done great over the past few days, fighting the storm and getting them out of there even though she was probably under serious pain.

It was easy to forget she had had her stomach pierced and was still healing when seeing her determined expression and hearing her annoying voice giving orders. That if you weren't putting special attention on a certain blonde, who sure as hell hadn't forgot about if for one second.

Zoro wondered what would have happened if she hadn't been injured when they were hit by the worst part of the storm. They would have probably escaped before it all ended up as messed up as it had, without major harm. Hell, they wouldn't have even gotten in that mess to start with had Nami been there, that much he was pretty sure of. But she had been drugged and healing, understandably not able to do anything.

Now their ship was a wreck, they were in a shore of God knows where in an island they hadn't even inspected yet and they were all worn out and exhausted. Oh, yeah, and their cook had switched to a special idiot-mode, silently blaming himself for everything that had happened, and Zoro was the only one who had realized that, which only made it worse, since if the rest of the crew had seen a glimpse of what Zoro had, they could've all teamed up to jointly kick his ass and get that stupid idiotic retarded idea out of his stupid idiotic retarded brain.

No such look. Zoro was alone against the cook's stupidity and he still had his ass to kick by himself. He just had to find the moment. Yeah, what about _right now_? It would only take him the time of getting inside the galley, yelling a few insults regarding his retarded attitude and good-for-nothing brain and then proceed to kick his ass for good. That worked. Pretty simple. Before he could _really_ think of what he was doing, he was entering the galley with a loud thump of the door when he opened it unceremoniously.

"Cook."

Said cook was showing him his back, which appeared to be quite tense as he stood in front of the pantry with both hands on his hips, his legs barely parted as he seemed to be deeply in thought. He hadn't even heard him.

Something in his posture, though, told Zoro it wasn't time to kick ass.

"Cook," he called again, all trace of annoyance left behind as he substituted it for a little bit more strength in his voice, see if he caught his attention.

Sanji's shoulders jolted and Zoro realized just how tense the blonde was, which made him frown. Well, not that it was that strange after three days of not sleeping at all and wearing himself out. Sanji slightly turned his face to look at him and acknowledge his presence only to turn to the pantry again. Zoro automatically walked to stand by his side.

"Oi, crap-cook, what's wrong?"

Sanji sneered at him and Zoro smirked as he had managed to piss him off. That would never stop being fun.

"We're running out of food supplies," Sanji informed, his voice hoarse and weary. He had gulped lots of sea water and choked on them over the last few days so his throat had seen better days. He looked annoyed but his features leaned more on the _really_ worried side. "Like, _really_ running out."

Zoro shrugged. "Well, we'll go buy some in this island once we get to explore it. There must be a town or something like that near by."

Sanji absently nodded, but he wasn't into the conversation anymore. His brain had switched on deciding what he could gather together to cook for lunch. His frown only accentuated the dark bags under his eyes and his hollowed cheeks. Zoro mirrored his worried expression without neither of them noticing when he realized just how tired the cook was. He was surprised the blond was standing and up for cooking instead of fainting right there and then, sleep deprived and physically exhausted as he was, no matter how strong Sanji was. Zoro could only assume his own face didn't look much better since he had also seen better days and he could use a month's sleep right then, but the cook was really looking like shit.

"So, you gonna stay here enjoying the view or are you planning on getting out of my kitchen?"

Zoro came back to reality and realized he was dozing off. Ugh, he really needed a sleep. Suddenly, his stomach growled with about as much grace as an elephant snorting. Sanji raised an amused and at the same time disgusted eyebrow at him.

"Come on, fuck off and I'll cook something good. Just make sure to stay awake until you eat or we really won't be able to wake you up once you're asleep," Sanji prompted with a surprisingly gentle tone. His hand followed his words when it lightly shoved Zoro's shoulder so that he'd obey. Zoro frowned at this but did as he was told, leaving the cook to his own devices but not sparing the worried look he sent him before closing the door behind.

"Luffy, you shouldn't really be sleeping, try to stay awake until the shit-cook calls for lunch," Zoro said as he lightly kicked his captain's side. Luffy was sprawled on the damp deck grass, already starting to snore. The kick woke him up instantly, making him jump up, ready to face any danger, used as he had gotten over the last three days. Just that this time there was no danger. The sky was still light grey, the atmosphere was cool and there was a bit of a drizzle, but aside of that everything was calm.

Zoro sighed. Everyone's nerves were crisped and ready to explode, Luffy instantly waking up when called was clear proof of that.

"Everything's okay," Zoro reassured him when he saw the confused look in the raven boy's face. His own voice sounded extremely tired even to him.

"Oh, right! Sanji's making lunch! Dont' worry, I'll be ready! I'm starving! Sanji, luuuuuunch-!"

Luffy's battle cry as he charged towards the galley was cut when Zoro's leg got in the way of his feet, making his captain land face first against the floor.

"Luffy, just for once, leave the cook alone. If what you want is to have lunch instead of attending his funeral, that is."

Luffy blinked at him, visibly alarmed when being forced to face the possibility of not being greeted by Sanji's cooking. Zoro rolled his eyes at his captain's antics and stepped away, confident that Luffy wouldn't get near the kitchen until Sanji gave him permission to. At least for the time being.

"By the way, Chopper wants to see you."

"Going!"

Zoro sat down against a bit of the railing that wasn't damaged. Franky had already busied himself with repairing the harmed Sunny. Damn, the ship was nearly a wreck. No wonder the cyborg hadn't allowed himself the time to rest even when they safely could for first time in days. Usopp was dragging himself here and there with a face that suggested he was about to faint in a second but still carried anything Franky asked him to. That was as much as he could do in his current state but the long-nose would be working at his fullest beside Franky once he'd gotten the well deserved rest.

Robin was somewhere in the library reordering fallen books since the interior of the ship looked as if world war had just happened in there, everything spilled on the floor, some things totally ruined, some still fixable. Sanji had just finished cleaning the mess the kitchen had turned into since when Zoro had entered the galley everything seemed more or less in order. He could start hearing some cooking noise blended with Brook's melancholic violin, the melody a perfect picture of how tired the skeleton was.

The swordsman blinked his sleep away, trying to stay awake as everyone seemed to be doing, none of them allowing sleep to take over since they knew there was no waking them up once they drifted away. And they were all hungry, so nope, they weren't letting that happen until they had their stomachs filled.

So Zoro busied himself scanning the shore they had ended up docking in. None of them were in any condition to be part of an exploring team, not even Luffy, who would usually be the one to drag them into a new adventure, so they hadn't gotten out of the ship yet since they docked, which was about an hour ago.

It was a rocky pretty deserted landscape, no beach whatsoever in sight, just increasingly high piled rocks that kept climbing against sharp cliffs. From where they stood, no vegetation could be seen. All in all, the first impression was quite inhospitable. Zoro just hoped there was a town they could get some supplies in. And they urgently needed material to fix their ship since Franky had informed Sunny wasn't in any condition to sail any time soon unless they fixed some major damages. Starting with the mast. It was a miracle it hadn't fallen down again. Even with his limited knowledge on ships Zoro knew if the mast was fucked, the ship was fucked. And theirs was barely standing.

Sanji's hoarse voice emerged from the galley as he called them for lunch and the crew all but launched themselves to get some food in their organisms as if they hadn't eaten in days. Which wasn't that far from truth since all they had done was gulp down the dishes offered to them faster than lighting to get to work again while the storm was still hitting. It was the first time the crew could seat down together (minus Nami, who was sleeping in the infirmary) and calmly eat without fearing for their lives in quite a long time. All of their faces had seen better times and they seemed ready to doze off into their plates at that very moment. Lunch was weirdly quiet except for some praising to Sanji's food since they were all enjoying it more than usual after not doing so for a while.

One by one they finished and started leaving in order to sleep. Franky said he needed to fix some urgent things before doing so, which was good since they needed someone awake to keep watch while the crew was out. If all of them went to sleep at the same time, they could be thrown out of the Sunny and their ship kidnaped without any of them waking up at all and that wouldn't do in their current state.

"Franky, if you need to sleep once you're done, I'll take the watch. I need to wash the dishes and do some inventory so it'll take a bit."

Franky turned to the blonde before leaving and gratefully smiled at him. Zoro frowned instead. He sat there, really wanting to go to sleep but too pissed to do so, until it was only both of them in the kitchen, Sanji quietly washing the dishes.

"And just _when_ are you planning on sleeping?" Zoro finally snapped.

"When somebody else takes the watch duty," Sanji answered as a matter of fact.

"You know when they get to sleep they won't wake until lunch tomorrow, minimum."

"I don't really feel like sleeping."

"Like hell you don't!" Zoro growled, boring a hole into his back. Sanji wasn't even looking at him while talking, facing the sink all along. "You haven't gotten a minute of sleep these days."

"No one has."

"No one has had a _good_ sleep, but we have taken one or two hours a day to do so. All you ever disappeared for was for fucking cooking."

"You're welcome."

Zoro felt ready to punch something, but Sanji spoke again before the green haired man could retort.

"What's with the fuss anyways? You my mother? Since when do you fucking care what I do with my spare time?"

'That's what I'm fucking asking myself, bastard,' Zoro thought, but shut his mouth for good. It didn't help him that two people had already voiced out his own weird concerned behaviour towards the cook in the last hour. His brain was already giving him shit for it, no need for extra help, thank you very much.

"You're a stupid retarded idiot with retired brain cells, I swear," he muttered, clenching his teeth. Sanji turned at that, a frown worsening his tired features.

"What was that, shitty marimo?"

Zoro huffed and rubbed both his hands along his face to ease some of the tension, reminding himself neither of them needed a fight right now. Like, at all. So he didn't reply at the jab, even though he had started it.

"Just fucking go to sleep," Zoro groaned from behind his hands.

"I assume you'd be the one keeping watch, then," Sanji replied with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Zoro gave him a glare through his fingers.

"Then shut the fuck up."

And with that, Sanji resumed washing dishes with more energy than before. When he finished the task, he settled for doing some inventory, see what they had and what they didn't, what they needed to buy, what was missing, what had gone to waste and what not. He suddenly realized Zoro was still there, sat with his elbows planted on the table and his hands holding his face in place, clearly fighting to keep his eyes open. His usual scowl was faintly washed away by tiredness, a weird look on the swordsman, but also kind of endearing as it almost looked like a child's pout.

_Endearing_, what the fuck. Sanji blinked away what he was sure had to be sleep playing games on his sanity and fixed the moss head with a glare.

"Why aren't _you_ going to sleep?"

"Don't wanna."

"Bullshit. Fuck off and fucking get some sleep somewhere that's not my kitchen."

"That's my line! Why don't _you_ fucking go to sleep once and for all, shit cook?"

"Already told you, retarded marimo. I'm doing watch. Out."

"I'm on watch as well."

"The fuck!"

"For someone who constantly claims I am a retarded marimo, you're quite retarded yourself, curly brow!"

"What the hell was that again, moss-for-brains?!"

Zoro sighed and rubbed his face again, arming himself with loads of patience since he was starting to run short of it.

"I'll be keeping watch _with_ you."

Sanji blinked at that, suddenly at loss for words, clearly out of their usual bickering line and apparently lost now that the swordsman had said something he wasn't expecting.

"Wha- Why?"

"Because I'll be able to wake you up if you doze off, and you'll be able to wake me up if I do. This way we'll make sure the watch duty is really being taken care of."

Sanji blinked again. Zoro was staring to wonder if his brain was following him or not. He suspected he had lost him at "because". Sanji opened his mouth once and then twice but no sound came out. Zoro growled. That whole situation was plain stupid.

"Listen, it's reasonable. If you want to go to sleep, go do so, but I'm staying up on watch and I don't give a fuck what you say."

The blonde finally sighed and weakly nodded, looking even more worn out than before. That alarmed Zoro, but he knew to keep his mouth sealed. Sanji wasn't commenting on Zoro's probably pathetic looks out of respect for the swordsman, not wanting to imply he was weak because he fucking wasn't, so Zoro did just the same for Sanji. With that little bickering they both had weirdly showed that they kind of, only _kind of_, cared (and that "cared" was very relative, really) in their own way of showing so, so none of them was going to take it further. Zoro knew nagging Sanji with what was good for his health would only harm his pride and that was something they both valued enough so as not to step over it. Even if Zoro was _really_ tempted to just drag the blond to his hammock and knock him out for him to fucking sleep before he really snapped. Not that he was _really_ worried for him. Not at all.

"I need to do this first, though. Franky is still outside fixing something if you want to wait with him," Sanji informed in a weary tone as he settled to work.

Zoro shook his head, silently happy that the blond hadn't put up that much of a fight. He had really expected their fight getting physical for the cook to accept his covered-up help. Sanji must really have felt exhausted.

"I'll stay here."

He didn't inform him he wanted to keep an eye on him. That was something Sanji didn't need to know.

Then again, he expected Sanji kicking him out of the kitchen since he seemingly hated his very presence, but the blonde diverted from their usual framed behaviour path again and shrugged, settling into a surprisingly comfortable silence.

At some point Zoro's eyes closed as his head ended up resting on the table. Some time later a light shake of his shoulder woke him up as he faced a really tired Sanji.

"Ah, shit, I slept..."

"S'alright," Sanji reassured him, dragging each syllable. "I just finished doing my work and Franky already went to sleep. Let's go out do that watch duty."

Zoro nodded and found himself half-smirking at the cook, who had pulled out an encouraging exhausted grin as he balled his fist up with as much enthusiasm as a rock.

"Yeah, let's go. Don't let me sleep so long next time I doze off though."

"Oh, don't worry about it. A kick in the shin is what you'll get if you do. I think that'll do," Sanji retorted playfully. Zoro didn't miss how his voice sounded sloppy.

"Watch it, cook. If _you _doze off, you might find yourself bald when you wake up. I just recently sharpened my swords," Zoro followed with his own challenging grin.

Sanji fixed him with a glare that on better days would have promised a painful death. Right now it only turned out as a lazy warning, his eyes unable to convey his murderous intent as they were too busy keeping themselves open.

"Now that I better think of it, you might find my foot shoved up your ass and saying hi through your nostrils."

Zoro barked a laugh at that, seriously wondering where the cook got those threats from. That didn't even sound serious. Well, it wouldn't if he didn't know the cook. Knowing him, it wasn't entirely impossible for him to do something like that while looking cool as fuck. His laugher died away faster than usual as he lost the strength to do so when he plopped to the floor, sitting against the railing. Sanji sat by his side, still frowning at him but with a slight dimple by the corner of his mouth giving his amusement away. Ah, damn, they really needed sleep.

With that they settled into a comfortable silence again, inspecting their surroundings while fighting sleep away. Zoro gave Sanji a side-long glance when the cook put his attention on the shore they were docked in and saw the progression of his forehead wrinkling and his eyebrows knitting into a deep frown at the sight. Zoro didn't comment on it, he just really hoped there was a town somewhere in that island. Judging from Sanji's unsettled look, we wasn't sure of it either. He could actually sense his agitation from his side but still kept quiet. They'd have time to worry about that when they went exploring.

It had stopped drizzling now, and the greyish clouds were starting to drift away, slowly but still showing bits of white and streaks of blue here and there, shy sunrays making it through and lighting random little spots up. One of them was Sanji's face. The cook was still frowning, still looking dead exhausted, still wearing those black bags under his blue eyes... But his blonde hair was shining with a gold gleam and his face was slowly getting some color back. His attractive lips wrapped around a cigarette, his chest slowly working its way up and down, peacefully breathing.

Realization hit Zoro that Sanji was _alive_. That they were _all_ alive after he had assumed the worse was to happen. That his crew had survived and was ready to heal and move on. Sanji's even breathing proved that. The way his elegant hands lit the cigarette with mechanic familiarity, the way his lower lip slightly sticked out when he neared the nicotine stick to the lighter, the way the small flame momentarily lighted his features up with a mute click. The way his eyes fluttered close for a moment when inhaling the first drag and opened again to reveal a shocking shade of blue. The way his lips slightly pouted when he exhaled the calming smoke leaving him with a relaxed expression, his frown slowly disappearing. The way the golden strands danced across his features while bathed by the sun. The way his stupid eyebrows stupidly curled in a stupid way Zoro would never understand.

Zoro found himself smiling at the sight, feeling extremely grateful to be alive.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi guys, here we go again! I updated pretty fast this time! Yay!

I hope you liked this one, this is longer than the rest! Let me know what you think, both things you liked and mistakes you may find, it really helps me get better and it motivates me a lot!

Thank you to everyone reviewing, following, favouriting and reading, you make my day!

:)


	9. Chapter 9 - Just a Rock

**Chapter 9**

**Just a Rock**

* * *

It was long past midnight when Robin emerged from the girls bedroom and found Sanji with his head leaning on a certain swordsman's shoulder, apparently asleep.

Zoro heard the footsteps and automatically snarled when the cook fidgeted by his side and sat upright rubbing his still closed eyes as he had also heard the telltale sound of Robin's high heels clicking on the grass. Zoro fixed her with a glare but was met with an all-knowing smirk he didn't like one bit. The cook had just fallen asleep about five minutes ago and his breathing was starting to get deep when the raven haired woman had walked on them and woken him up.

At first, when he felt the weight of Sanji's head on his shoulder, Zoro had almost jumped at the unexpected contact and _nearly_ pushed him away with enough strength as to send him flying out of the ship, but then he kind of relaxed as his shoulder started to feel warm and he realized Sanji had just peacefully fallen asleep, not meaning to attack him or anything. Over the las few minutes he had made it his main goal to beat statues in the stillness department so as not to wake his tired nakama and had managed to do so until Robin decided to join them. Which actually pissed him off because the cook _needed_ that bit of sleep - that's why Zoro was letting him lean on him, no other particular reason- and he had just gotten that away from him.

"Shit, did I just doze off?"

"Don't worry cook, you still have your blonde mane in place. It was only thirty seconds. I was about to get you bald, though."

"Shut the fuck up," Sanji groaned, barely understandable syllables making it out of his lips. "Oh, Robin?" he babbled, with his sleepy voice not seeming his own. He was still rubbing his not visible eye as he spoke, squinting to focus on Robin, seemingly disoriented. Zoro blinked at him and realized that right then Sanji almost looked like a kid. His pout and sleepy face didn't help. For a moment he feared what the cook's reaction to their former position would be but if his cloudy eyes were anything to go by, he probably hadn't even noticed as he was still descending from unconsciousness. "Why are you awake, dear?" Sanji asked, growing increasingly confused by the second. Zoro could almost see his brain gears trying to keep up with reality.

"I couldn't sleep anymore," Robin explained with a gentle gesture. "So I thought you two could go to sleep while I stay on watch. You could use some."

"No... Wai- What? No, no, no, Robin, don't bother for us and go to sleep, my beautiful flower, we are doing fine!" Sanji sputtered as he fell into pace with the situation. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"I can see," Robin chuckled behind her hand. Time for Sanji to look confused and Zoro to glare daggers at her. The damn woman was having too much fun and Zoro didn't like her motives at all. "But really, Sanji, I can't sleep at all anymore and it would just be a waste of time to have you both awake and tired when you need sleep just like the rest and there's someone who can do the duty."

Sanji shut up at that, apparently not finding any good polite retort in his wide stored arsenal. Zoro snorted and stood up getting Sanji by the elbow and forcing him up while earning a few colourful curses from the blond.

"Come on, shit cook, do as you are told for once and let's go to sleep."

Sanji brushed his hand away and Zoro was momentarily tempted to shove into the blond's knowledge the fact that Sanji had been almost fucking cuddling with him not a minute ago, but let the idea fly away in order to save them both some embarrassment they didn't really need, less in Robin's presence since she had seen the scene and seemed annoyingly amused with it. Zoro didn't even know what to make of it himself, let alone put the blonde into the equation. It was easier to forget it had ever happened if it was his brain alone he had to deal with. Ignoring Robin's knowing glances would do. Having to put up with Sanji's rants if he ever got to know definitely wouldn't. And he was fairly sure the idiot would end up finding a way to blame him for this. Zoro was already getting annoyed at the potential consequences of a slip of his tongue so he took the cook's front shirt and dragged him to the guys bunks before Robin's smile would give anything away, the blonde not putting much of a fight as he was currently sending kisses and thanks and sweet goodnight's to the woman much to Zoro's irritation.

"Can't you shut up?"

"Will you stop dragging me?"

"Will you fucking walk by yourself and go to sleep?"

"Won't you ever stop being insufferable?"

"My fucking very line, dart-brow."

"You stupid moss-head!"

"Curly-brow."

"Marimo."

"Ero-cook."

"Neanderthal."

"Shit-cook."

"Fucking shitty swordsman."

Sanji's hand darted away to cover Zoro's mouth at the same time the swordsman's reached his lips with an aggressive gesture as they glowered daggers at each other and told the other to shut the fuck up with their free fingers since they had already reached their bedroom and a troubled snore told them they had been about to wake someone up. Hands slowly leaving the other's mouth, they snarled at each other for good measure before silently stomping to their respective bunks while quietly muttering curses under their breaths mainly involving moss, marimos, shitty-cooks and curlies. As soon as their faces hit their pillows, though, all sound was gone as all fight left them, and everything turned into blackness.

* * *

Sanji woke up in between loud nasty snores and groaned in the dark. He attempted a fight with his blanket and ended up tangled in it so he eventually gave up, grumbling and mentally cursing everything that came to mind. Fuck, he really needed to sleep more, and sleep was indeed tugging his brain to switch off, but he knew already that he wasn't getting any any time soon. Sanji buried his nose in his pillow, wishing it would help, but it obviously didn't. He started to believe his brain didn't like him, waking him up and all when his current only goal in life was to sleep. Neither did his crew mates, judging from the obnoxious roaring their snores had built up to.

Well, it was mainly his brain that was killing him. Of course it had waken him up. He had been dreaming of that damn rock again, days of nothing but starving, days that waved good-bye one after the other with nothing but another crushed hope of living. The certainty of dying at the palm of his hand, his bonny arms reaching for a way out and not finding any, and the worst, the wait. The fucking wait. Wait for what? It came to a point where he had just waited for death to embrace him and take him away from that torture, but death had no such merciful plans for him. Not when life had decided he wouldn't go yet. That life being an old grumpy pirate with a leg missing for the sake of a stupid child who had... who had tried to kill him.

Images and feelings of those times kept visiting him even after so many years. He'd stayed clear of those dreams for a while now, but tonight hadn't been such a lucky one. Not that he was surprised, the shore they were docked in held a suspicious resemblance with _his_ rock. And his subconscious had decided to helpfully remind him of that fact by sending a horde of unpleasant dreams to haunt him while he was asleep. That until his brain had snapped and woke him up, already weary of those memories. No need to recreate them again, thank you very much.

Sanji groaned again, then sighed and sat up, rubbing his face in frustration. There was no more sleeping tonight, and it was as firm a fact as firm were Zoro's muscl-_What!_ Just, seriously now, what. The. Fuck.

This time he whined, yes, Blackleg Sanji whined. Not that he'd ever do it again, nope. Not that anybody was to know he had done so. Never. He kept his ears at work, trying to tell if anybody had heard. Judging from the snores, that was not the case. Perfect. He really didn't feel like having to kill any witnesses. But, really, _what the heck_. Last time he remembered doing this kind of comparison, it was regarding Nami's boobs. How it had gone from that magnificent mental image to _that _other one he wasn't sure, and he didn't want to know.

Wishing there was some kind of reset button attached to his brain, he just forced himself to get out of his bunk. He really needed a cigarette. And maybe he could tell Robin to go to sleep while he took watch again. There wasn't much else he could do if he stayed in bed, not now that both his brain and body had decided to boycott him with unwanted memories and stupid marimo images he didn't really need.

He rummaged for his pack of cigarettes and lighter and tossed them in his trousers' front pocket. Feeling like he really needed to clean up as his clothes were salty due to the storm they had gone through and practically living bathed in ocean waves for three days, but knowing that if he was to be on watch he wouldn't have time for a shower, he settled for getting rid of his shirt and changing for a casual clean T-shirt, the one with the _gentlecook _motive. That would do the trick until he got some time to make himself more than presentable.

Deciding he was done there and sighing yet again, he stepped away to go. And then a hoarse sleepy voice stopped him on his tracks.

"Where ya goin', shit cook?"

Said cook turned to where he thought he could discern the marimo's figure fidgeting in his hammock. A sneer appeared on Sanji's face as he walked back to get to Zoro's level so that he wouldn't have to raise his voice to communicate and wake everyone up. So Zoro was too asleep as to pronounce his words correctly but still awake enough as to insult him. Not surprised. That didn't mean it pissed him less. Rather the opposite.

"The hell ya doin' awake?" came the marimo's voice as he sensed Sanji's presence inches away from him. He really seemed to be struggling with his own brain to get words out. Just about what he always did, in Sanji's modest opinion.

"Can't sleep."

"Bullshit."

"Shut up. Going for a walk, I really can't sleep for the life of me anymore," Sanji whispered, actually enjoying how Zoro seemed to be getting pissed in his sleepy world as Sanji's voice was steadier and made more sense than his.

"Where?", Zoro grunted. He was already drifting back to sleep, Sanji could tell. A small smile tugged his lips as his hand involuntarily patted the swordsman's shoulder.

"Shore. See where we are."

Next reply came as a muffled groan that almost choked into a snore. Sanji's smile grew wider despite how uselessly sleepy he was himself and he finally got out of the men's quarters, startling when he faced daylight. He was really expecting it to be deep in the night. It felt like he had only slept for one hour or two but apparently it was not the case. It was still pretty cloudy, but sunrays made it through here and there, and if the kind of light reaching him was anything to go by, it was quite late.

"Good morning, Mr. Cook."

Sanji turned a surprised gaze to Robin, who smiled at him with a mug of coffee in her hand and an open book in the other. Chopper jumped by her side, all cheerfulness and smiles.

"Hi, Sanji! Did you sleep well?"

The blonde found a grin on his own face as he walked to them.

"Yes, kind of," he half-lied. "Good morning Robin, love! You look beautiful as always, my dear!"

He politely waited for Robin's usual chuckle and then turned to Chopper, crouching next to him to be at eye level. "And have you slept Chopper?" His tone was a bit suspicious as the little reindeer was one of his crewmates who could be stubborn enough as not to sleep in order to assume responsibilities, just as Robin or himself.

"Yes, I slept very well! Though I slept in the infirmary to make sure everything was okay with Nami!"

"How's she doing?" Sanji asked, a frown creasing his forehead as a usual guilty feeling made itself room in his chest.

"Quite well, actually. She's still sleeping," the doctor informed with a determined look that helped Sanji's uneasiness fade away. Just a little.

"Well, what time is it? I'm sorry I didn't cook breakfast..."

"It must be about ten, maybe eleven?" Robin answered, apparently lost in her book and having forgotten all sense of time.

"Oh shit, I really did totally skip breakfast..." Sanji grunted, knitting his eyebrows. So he had slept far way more than he had thought, actually quite a good amount of hours, just that he hadn't had the rest he would have needed.

"Nobody expected you to cook breakfast today, Sanji, so don't worry", Robin assured him. "And I don't think the rest will wake up anytime before lunch. Rather after that. Maybe before dinner. The only guarantee that they will is because of Luffy. He won't let himself skip that many meals."

"Ugh, yeah, that human vacuum," Sanji groaned, and Robin laughed at that. She had come to have a pretty good idea of the suffering the chef went through when facing the task of feeding their captain. "So, I take it that you have already eaten?"

"Yes, sir!" Chopper announced with his happy chocolate brown eyes conveying his message. Sanji almost chuckled at that along with Robin. "Well, then, I'll be going for a walk around the ship. I want to see what there's up those cliffs, see if there's a town or something nearby."

"But maybe we should wait for the rest and form teams to explore," Robin objected, though quite relaxedly.

"I know, I'll just go take a look, I could really use a walk. I promise I won't get into trouble," he solemnly informed with a hand on his chest and a serious face much to Robin's amusement.

"See you later, then," she waved with a smile. Chopper hugged his leg and waved enthusiastically while leaving to the infirmary to go work on something Sanji didn't get to listen to.

"I'll be back before lunch!"

* * *

The damn cliffs were a bitch to climb, that much he had concluded when he made his way up. Well, that's the impression he got since he hadn't properly climbed. More like he had jumped in the air. He decided he would look for an easier way up for his crewmates on his way back, Luffy could just stretch and Zoro was Zoro but he couldn't and didn't want to picture his lovely ladies scratching their hands to get up there. More like only Robin since Nami was most likely not going to join them in that particular 'adventure', as Luffy liked to call it, not in her state. Sanji sighed, a pained look freely crossing his face now that he didn't have anyone around he had to hide it from.

He quickly rebuilt his composure and settled for inspecting his surroundings, which was what he had come to do. He'd have time to despise himself in his free time.

A frown darkened his face at the sight. It was exactly what he'd expected. Rocks. Fucking sharp rocks, cliffs here and there, hidden deadly crevices and himself. Sanji groaned and rubbed his face, already feeling a headache building up, but he told himself the island was bigger than that, so if he kept walking he would probably find a small town or a forest or some signs of life somewhere. He had this uneasy feeling in his gut, but he kept his hopes high and started walking, careful not to slip in any crevice and break his neck.

There _had_ to be a town, he told himself. He was surprised at his own determination, but he couldn't pinpoint if it was due to actual confidence or the desperate need for it to be true. The unsettling feeling stayed there though, but he decided to ignore it. He guessed it was just normal for him to feel uneasy when his current environment looked so much like the one haunting him in his memories. And he had to admit he hadn't been exactly stable on the emotional department for the last few days, so it really shouldn't be strange that everything he saw was painted a little bit darker than it actually was.

His hands absently reached for a cigarette and lit it without him registering the motion while his eyes scanned his surroundings, keeping a good pace in order to cover the maximum space possible before coming back.

It had been half an hour walking and his gut was starting to twist as nothing came yet to view. Not even vegetation or anything of that sort. His feet started to get weirdly cold as he quickened his steps which were turning rigid by the moment. That unsettling feeling was now taking the best of him as he started seeing other cliffs around him, all leading to the sea. Shit, he already knew it was useless to walk anymore. He had known it since he had seen the shore but it had been easier to build an armour of confidence and convince himself his odds weren't that bad. So he didn't stop walking, even when his chest started to clench in a familiar forgotten feeling, not until he reached the other side of the island, which cut into a sharp cliff.

Sanji stood there and lit another cigarette, the last bit of concentration spent in making his hands steady. He mentally patted himself when he managed to do it as if nothing was amiss. But there was this weight in his gut, this clenching in his chest, this cold numb feeling in his whole body. Sanji told himself that he had only walked a straight line from side to side. He had already caught a glimpse of the center of the island, but maybe there was something around the edges, there _had_ to be. Waving the dreadful feeling off once again he started walking again in order to circle the island. If there was something to find, he'd find it.

His hands started trembling and he shoved them in his pockets. If he didn't see the way his body was reacting, already knowing what was coming, maybe his mind could fool him for a little while more.

Come on, there had to be something. There _had_ to. There was no way karma was such a bitch.

Sanji bitterly laughed at his own joke.

* * *

"Where's Sanji?! Sanjiiiiiii?! Saaaaan-Dammit, I'm really hungry! Sanji I'm hungryyyyyyy!"

Zoro swore he was ready to kill someone. Preferably his captain.

"Luffy, shut up, for fuck's sake..." he groaned, burying his face in the pillow, wishing that it could muffle his captain's desperate cries.

"I'm hungryyyyy! Sanji!"

"Luffy, you woke me up!" Usopp whined from his hammock. Movement and soft curses around them told Zoro the others were waking up as well.

"But I'm hungry! Why is Sanji not here?! I can't sleep anymore if I don't eat meat! Sanjiiiiii!"

His voice was thankfully less strident as Luffy stormed out of their room in order to hunt Sanji down around the ship. They could still hear him, but far away enough as not to pierce their ears. Zoro heard a collective relieved sigh as peace and darkness filled their quarters again.

He was finally drifting back to sleep when the door flew open and the damn voice cut through his eardrums once more, this time at full volume.

"Where's Sanji?! I'm starving! Saaaaaaaaa-!

A pillow hit Luffy's face with enough force as to slam the rubber boy against the wooden wall, effectively shutting him up.

"Shut the fuck up, Luffy!" Zoro growled, arm still in the air and slowly retreating as he went back to his lying position, pissed as hell and now fully awake much to his dismay. Luffy's only response was a teary whine as he crawled out of the room asking Chopper to console him. A few "thank you, Zoro" lazily crossed the room but he just grunted. He knew himself well enough as to know he wasn't going to fall asleep again in a while.

* * *

The cliffs were a bitch to climb, he concluded. They'd have to look for an alternative way up for the rest of the crew. He could handle himself, Luffy could just stretch and damn cook did the damn sky walk thing but he bet Usopp would piss his pants if he had to face the dangerous task of climbing up that hell of a cliff.

He'd been walking around for a while now, and nothing came into view but rocks. Granted it was possible he had just gotten lost and was walking in circles – not that he'd admit it, nope, no way – but something told him he wouldn't find a town or anything of the kind. Not that it mattered at that point, that's not exactly what he was looking for. Slight anxiety bugged him as his eyes wandered around for a glimpse of blond. Robin had told him that Sanji had gone to inspect their surroundings hours ago. If his instinct was right, there was nothing to be found and the island wasn't that big, so there was no reason for the cook to be taking so much time to come back. Maybe he had fallen down a crevice and killed himself? Nah, he wouldn't be as stupid as to do that.

Then he saw the glimpse of blonde and stopped in his tracks.

He felt his chest clench and his frown lose strength at the sight. Sanji was some meters ahead of him, right at the edge of a cliff, apparently watching the sea vastness in front of him. Zoro's gaze was lost in the cook as he registered the slumped-down shoulders, the defeated stance and vibes, a feeling of helplessness around him. He hadn't even seen his face yet, but if he had to trust the twisting of his gut, Zoro felt it was worse than the other times. This time it looked as utter ironic defeat, this time, Sanji looked lost, helpless, fucking _small_. And he had just seen his back.

Zoro didn't even find it in him to get angry, the unsettling scorching feeling in his chest was too overwhelming to leave place for anything else. Sanji's sight made himself feel helpless and at lost of what to do anymore. He really didn't want to see him like this. He couldn't see him like this without feeling sick.

"Cook," he called with half the strength he intended. Sanji didn't even flinch and the thought occurred that he hadn't heard him, that chances were that he hadn't even sensed his presence. So he tried again, forcing himself to raise his voice and add that biting teasing tone he used with the cook. That always worked and riled him up.

No such luck this time. He didn't register that he had walked to Sanji's side until he was there, he didn't register his hand gently brushing against the cook's arm as he titled his head to get a better view of his face until he had already done so, he didn't register the word slipping past his lips until it did and the awkwardness of pronouncing it brought him back to the very tangible reality.

"Sanji."

Sanji was slightly startled as his shoulders flinched and his face turned to Zoro with an unreadable expression working as a mask. His trademark cigarette was halfway to his mouth, the tilt of his head was relaxed, but something in the whole stance was out of place. Sanji didn't even bother pulling his shoulders up, didn't even bother building a better mask, he just looked at Zoro, mildly surprised at his real name being called by the swordsman as that brought him back to reality from wherever his thoughts had been wandering.

Zoro's tone had been gentle and worried, almost caring. Just like his current expression. It was actually difficult to take it in as it was such an unusual range of feelings for Zoro to show. And definitely not to him. His hand still lingered on Sanji's arm, but the blonde didn't pull away.

They stared at each other for a while until Zoro found his voice back and let out some words almost as a whisper.

"Luffy says he's hungry," he informed, watching the cook for any reaction.

Sanji scoffed with a distant smirk as he shook his head and let his gaze fall back into the sea. "Damn black hole..."

The blond sighed and smiled again with resignation.

"I'll be coming in a minute," he announced while waving his cigarette for Zoro to understand he wanted to finish it.

Zoro nodded, his hand still on Sanji's arm. Sanji hadn't pulled away yet.

"So... There's no town?" he asked after a while.

Sanji's shoulders seemed to fall even more at that, but his expression was still stoic. He lazily shook his head and looked at Zoro straight in the eyes.

"No town. No nothing," he said. Zoro had already known that, but hearing Sanji say it in _that _hollow tone told him how screwed they were going to be if they didn't find another island soon. And the Sunny's state wasn't exactly comforting. "Knew it the moment I saw the shore, just wanted to make sure though."

He let out a bitter streak of laughter that made Zoro's skin uncomfortable as a shiver ran down his spine.

"But I was obviously right. As always," he chuckled, looking at Zoro with what intended to be an amused smile. To him it just looked helplessly defeated. "It's just a fucking _rock_."

His chuckles faded away as his glance went back to the ocean, his eyes clouded, his jaw clenching around his cigarette with enough strength as to destroy it. It was a miracle he didn't.

"_Again_."

Zoro felt traces of desperation build up inside him, much to his surprise. He wanted to do something, anything, to make that expression go away. But his brain had decided to helpfully barricade its functioning neurons somewhere he couldn't find and nothing clever or particularly useful came to mind.

His instincts, which had always worked just fine, kicked in and his hand landed on Sanji's shoulder to give him a firm squeeze that surprised the blond as his eyes widened when looking back at him.

"We should get going," Zoro said, giving him the most reassuring look he could as he seemingly was too dense to put something so embarrassing into words. _Everything will be fine_ sounded stupid enough in his head, he didn't even want to picture how it would sound had he voiced it out. Rather spare them the embarrassment. He just hoped he got the message through with his squeeze. Sanji seemed to get it as a small smile slowly creeped up his features and lightly brightened his face. Zoro felt something warming him up inside and couldn't help mirroring his expression. Dammit, that was so much better. Zoro almost sent his pride to hell in order to tell him to keep that expression for fuck's sake, but last-minute self-awareness willed him to shut the fuck up, much to his relief.

"Yeah, let's get going," Sanji flicked his cigarette at the sea with one last look before gently brushing Zoro's hand away and heading the right direction. "Before our crazy captain does something to deserve a kick in the ass."

Zoro lightly laughed at that and the sound made Sanji draw a sincere smile directed to no one in particular. The fading laughter also told him Zoro was unsurprisingly heading the wrong way behind him, so he turned fixing him with a mocking look that drew a frown from the swordsman.

"It's about time you stopped fucking getting lost, you know," he commented as he fisted his haramaki and dragged him behind his steps. Zoro struggled for a moment, yelling and complaining like he was supposed to do, only to receive the snarky barks Sanji was supposed to counterattack with, their cursing and yelling lasting until they reached the ship.

But at one point, Zoro had stopped physically struggling and just settled for following Sanji.

Sanji didn't let go for a moment.

* * *

**A/N: **hiiiii! So now you know where they ended up! Poor Sanji, his luck seems to be on vacation, good thing Zoro is there!

Let me know what you think! Thank you for all your lovely reviews, they make me really happy to read! :)


	10. Chapter 10 - We'll Manage

**Chapter 10**

**We'll Manage**

* * *

Sanji had already kicked Luffy out of the kitchen three times, preventing him from sacking their supplies. If somebody had noticed his cursing was worse than normal or his kicks stronger, nobody mentioned. Though the fact that Luffy had given up after the third attempt could very well mean even he had realized that something was wrong and Sanji was not to be messed with at the moment.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at his captain's whines that woke him up from a nice nap. He heard himself growl and sigh, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep until Luffy got his stomach full again.

They had informed the crew of their current situation and though there had been slightly worried expressions, they had taken it the way Strawhats did: firmly believing that was nothing more than a little tumble they'd get through. That wasn't Franky's or Sanji's opinion at all, though. Their frowns were tattooed in their faces as they had already spent some time in the galley alone discussing something. That could only mean they knew something the others didn't, namely that the situation was worse than they told them.

Zoro saw Franky leave the galley with a dark expression on his face. That meant Sanji would start cooking soon now that he was left alone. He stood on his feet and made his way to the cook's realm, knowing things were off. Not really a surprise, he already knew, but he needed to know the extent of their problems.

"Out of my kitchen."

"Yo, crap-cook, I'm also happy to see you."

Sanji glared at him before setting to work and getting all the utensils he'd need ready.

"What do you want? You're not going to get any booze."

"Didn't plan on stealing some, for a change."

"Fine. I don't feel like fighting."

Woah, something was _really_ wrong. Zoro scowled at him, trying to keep his worry at bay.

"Just wanted to know what's wrong."

Sanji barked a bitter laugh. "Oh, come on, I thought I wouldn't need to explain to _you_ that we are currently stuck in a deserted island. Are you really that dense?"

"I'm actually trying to be serious here," Zoro growled, already feeling his temper being challenged.

"Could've fooled me."

"You're an asshole."

"So I've been told."

Zoro sighed. "Franky was here with you a moment ago. What were you talking about?"

"Are you my girlfriend or something? You jealous now?"

"I'm gonna kill you."

"Woah, that's an ace way of prying information, go on, man."

Zoro could already feel the headache building up and his murdering urges raging. He rubbed his temples and groaned, wondering why the hell the cook had to be such a major asshole _even_ when he was trying to be serious and, mind you, _nice_. But neither the sarcasm or the biting tone of the blonde managed to mask the waves of utter worry coming out of him. If he expected his snarky remarks to get the swordsman away, he was sadly mistaken.

"Sanji."

Sanji had to turn and face him with that. It was twice the swordsman had said his real name aloud that day, which was something extraordinarily rare and alarming. That meant Zoro really meant business, but it wasn't that fact that made Sanji deflate and give in. The swordsman's voice pronouncing his name was annoyingly enough to make any snarky coherent thought fade away and tangle his brain, something weird building up in his chest. At that point there really wasn't much he could do to shoo him away.

"What, Zoro," he slowly answered, fixing him with a no-nonsense look, leaning his back against de counter and crossing his arms under his chest to show him he was listening.

"Can you stop being an asshole and trust me for once?"

Sanji grimaced at him, taken aback by the swordsman's words. Well, that seriously annoyed him somehow, so he didn't register his own retort until he heard himself aggressively voicing it out loud, acting out of impulse.

"Trust me for once? When have I not trusted you, Zoro?!"

And once it registered, he decided he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it. What the hell had that been?! However, instead of letting embarrassment take a toll on him and get him in a worse position as his cheeks were staring to feel hot, he let a mastered teasing smirk take the reins of his facial expression and he kind of fixed the embarrassing verbal slip with a, "Aside from when it comes to you giving me directions."

Zoro covered what he'd always swear was definitely _not_ a fierce blush with an even fiercer snarl the moment the cook saved the situation with the last annoying-as-hell taunt. Oh, come on, the cook had not just said that! He tried to ignore his chest being stabbed by the crazy beating his heart had gotten into and luckily succeeded as annoyance at the last comment overpowered the weird initial feeling.

Had he just felt... happy at what Sanji had said? What the fuck, was he a high school girl with a crush or what?! No, scratch that, better not try to answer that one or he may find unwanted surprises. So, instead, he feigned the first comment had never happened and redirected his energies at getting annoyed at the taunt, which he was much better at when dealing with the cook. Latest days had proved that different kinds of rare situations and interactions between them didn't exactly boost his sanity.

"Don't you dare get started with that shit when I'm being all serious, curly-brow!" he growled, mentally patting himself for actually sounding convincedly pissed off.

Sanji cheekily snickered and Zoro definitely did _not_ think that had looked kind of adorable as he considered slamming his unhelpful twisted brain against the counter. Where was all that shit coming from, seriously!

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Marimo," Sanji smirked as he lit a cigarette.

Zoro realized Sanji wasn't going to collaborate unless he pried the information out of him, so he sighed in order to calm himself and resumed his interrogation getting back to his serious expression. At least Sanji was now listening and apparently willing to answer.

"Okay, really now, what's the problem? What did you and Franky talk about?"

Sanji sighed and went back to worried mode as he realized there was no more fooling around. He absently directed his gaze at the ceiling as he fidgeted with his cigarette, taking time to order his thoughts.

"We were discussing how much time it would take to repair the Sunny so that it can safely sail again."

"And?"

"He told me it could very well take a week. The mast is really fucked up and there are other major damages he has to take care of without that many materials as lots of them were washed away and we can't get any new ones in this rock we're stuck in."

Zoro frowned. He understood it wasn't exactly the best news they could get, but that didn't justify Franky's and Sanji's dark worried expressions. It just meant their journey being delayed, which should annoy Luffy more than them as that also meant delaying his crazy adventure.

"Well then, we wait one week, no big deal," he shrugged, voicing his logic line of thought. Which apparently didn't match the cook's as he grew an impressive frown capable of competing with Zoro's trademark scowliest scowl. That made Zoro frown back, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he began to realize it wasn't that simple. "What?"

Sanji sighed, mentally trying to label Zoro's level of idiocy but forcing himself not to voice it out loud as he wasn't in the mood to start a fight.

"I also talked to Nami. Apparently next island is two weeks away from here."

"Which makes it three weeks to reach inhabited land, okay, so what?" Zoro pressed, starting to lose his patience. Cook sure liked to take long curvy paths to get to the point sometimes.

"Oh, my, you've learnt to count!" Sanji exclaimed with wide eyes and a mock shocked expression Zoro felt the urge to punch.

"You're fucking pushing it, shit-cook!" Zoro snapped, getting into his personal space as he got a fistful of Sanji's tie. Sanji's amused laughter, though, erased any possibility of a real fight. Dammit, he really was a pro at getting under his skin and the bastard enjoyed it to no end, even when facing serious situations.

Zoro tried to ignore the fading snickering of the blonde, the way his nose crinkled a little when chuckling, the way his full lips stretched over white perfect teeth and made him look younger and warmed the room like sunshine. Basically because those kind of corny, annoying, "what-the-fuck" labeled thoughts couldn't possibly be happily wandering around his brain. Like, _no way_. Nope. And also because he knew the cook was trying to divert the attention in an attempt to get out of the previous conversation. Which Zoro wasn't going to allow.

When Sanji had calmed down enough as to give him a teasing mocking smirk, Zoro showed him it wouldn't work on him by getting straight to the point.

"Cook, spit it out already. Where's the problem?"

Zoro saw Sanji's built up mirth fade away as he sighed and deflated, averting his gaze and growing that worried expression again. Zoro found himself hating it, but he wasn't going to let the core of the problem slip just because Sanji's smile made him feel funny things and was a billion times better than his current worried scowl.

"I've been doing some inventory. Again. Taking into account that we can't restock here."

Sanji still didn't look at him, but Zoro saw the brink of that defeated look shyly stick out in the blonde's eyes. Zoro clenched his jaw with enough force as for it to hurt, trying not to get carried away by what he knew was under the cook's shattering mask. He just hoped it wouldn't slip again, he really was afraid that this time, being this close, he wouldn't be able to restrain himself from introducing his fist to Sanji's face. As he read the cook's look and Sanji's words sunk in, realization started to hit him and the unsettling feeling in his stomach increased.

"Sanji..."

With that, he effectively brought the evasive eyes of the cook back to his. He tried not to think about how weird it felt to pronounce his name aloud but it had still come out naturally three times that day, without him even thinking. At least it seemed to do the trick and got the blonde's attention.

Zoro sunk into Sanji's blue iris, trying to seek an answer in it, but he only found slight apprehension as the cook had managed to barricade his line of thought from his expression. So that only left Zoro to guess. And he had a pretty good idea of where this was leading them. His voice was carefully channelled when he settled for asking out loud.

"How long will the food last?"

It was then that Sanji's wall fell so that Zoro could read the answer in it as the cook sighed and rubbed his tired features shrugging in defeat, his gaze avoiding Zoro's again.

"About a week. Ten to twelve days at most."

Zoro felt something heavy settle in his stomach, not only because of the news but also because of Sanji's expression. He still couldn't get the other to look him in the eyes. Oh, man, those were bad news. The crew starving was the last thing they needed and he knew that was kind of a sensitive topic for Sanji. Zoro's brain kicked into action, looking for ways of solving that mess while trying to get Sanji to look back at him.

"We can always... you know, go fishing or something. We won't have vegetables and other necessary stuff, but I don't think Luffy will particulary mind," he tried to smile at his half-assed joke in an attempt to make Sanji mirror his gesture. It usually worked. When Sanji's mouth's corner tugged up a little and a mildly amused look crossed his eyes for a moment, Zoro felt his own smile lift up in relief. "See? It's not like we'll starve."

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji nodded with a sincere smile. "Fishing time. Yay."

Zoro half laughed at that, giving Sanji some space back.

"Come on, we've managed worse! Don't worry so much about it," Zoro smirked as he made his way out of the kitchen. "We'll catch a big-ass fish and we'll have enough meat for a month!"

"Who said I was worried, moss-head?" Sanji sneered as he regained his usual confident stance.

"Well, you looked about to jump of a bridge," Zoro teased, feeling inexplicably happy that the cook was back to playing his arguing-for-nothing game back. "Thought I had to cheer you up, you know, can't have a damsel in distress growing wrinkles between her curly eyebrows, I know of a certain idiot who'd kick my ass if I ever let that happen."

He saw the kick coming even before Sanji put his leg into motion. He dodged with a feral grin as he took in Sanji's pissed-off snarl. An axe kick fell down out of nowhere and Zoro barely managed to avoid it as he rolled through the galley's floor trying to hold back a laughing fit. Really, he shouldn't be so happy, there wasn't even a reason for it, but the bubbling feeling in his chest didn't seem willing to disappear so he just let it be as he unshielded one sword and blocked a powerful attack directed straight at his face.

"Fuck off, damn idiotic marimo!" Sanji growled.

That made Zoro have serious trouble with containing an amused snicker. Oh my, he had really managed to piss him off this time. Zoro scored another point in his little victories-against-the-idiot-cook mental list.

Sanji noticed Zoro's expression, knowing he was about to burst out laughing, and he decided he didn't want to see it.

"Out of my kitchen, dammit!" he ordered as he forced Zoro to the door with his next kick. A rant of curses and insults that would've made the manliest sailor blush later, Zoro was already back to back with the door, having lost his fight against laughter and guffawing like a kid. Which wasn't like Zoro at all, specially not around Sanji. Which made Sanji's chest do funny things, which in combination with the pissed-off feeling in his stomach didn't help his case at all. "I don't fucking need you cheering me out, I'm not a fucking damsel in distress, not a fucking wrinkle is going to appear between my eyebrows because I'm damn hot and that's just not happening, it's you who's the idiot, not me, and yes, oh yeah, I'm gonna fucking kick your ass!" he yelled as he kicked the swordsman's way out, red with embarrassment and rage. Zoro bending with laughter _definitely_ didn't help.

"Fuck you!"

And with that, the galley door was slammed with enough force as to break it. Some lucky star prevented it from doing so. Zoro, who had barely avoided the wooden door slamming against his nose, stayed right there, body curled and not being able to control his laughter anymore. It was stupid, he didn't even know what he was laughing at anymore, he just couldn't stop it.

Usopp looked at him with a weird puzzled expression as he reached the conclusion that the man had finally gone nuts. There was no other explanation of why Zoro was laughing _like that_, at least not in the sniper's brain, and it made even less sense as the reason had apparently been something related with Sanji who, judging from how the ship had almost lost the galley door in the process, hadn't found it nearly as fun. He ended up shrugging it off, though. The whole crew was crazy as they came, so nothing surprised him anymore.

* * *

They didn't catch a single fish that day. There were no signs of life under water or up in the sky. They had formed a small group consisting on Usopp, Zoro, Sanji and Franky to dive into the water and use some weird net Usopp had just been working on, apparently designed to attract fish in it from a respectable distance. Luffy had been clapping all along, cheering them, singing, whining because he was hungry and falling face first into the sea twice much to Sanji's dismay since he seemed to be officially the one to save their captain's sorry ass in those kind of situations. Luffy even came up with an out-of-tune awful song he bawled rather than singed, its lyrics somewhere in the way of inviting fishies to come play and be his friends and informing them he'd devour them right away.

Still, by night time they hadn't caught anything. No signs of life, no signs of anything.

Zoro watched Sanji's bare back as he got out of the water and climbed back to the Sunny. His shoulders were down again and though he even smiled at Luffy when he joked about something once he was on deck, Zoro could see he was barely containing a painful sigh. He himself got on deck and kept staring as the cook slowly made his way back to the galley, looking down. Nobody seemed to notice. Zoro did and felt his chest tighten.

* * *

Dinner was crazy as always but smaller portions were served, much to Luffy's despair. He didn't whine as much as expected though, maybe sensing it wasn't time for that. Sanji kept his cool, smiled and complimented Robin, brought Nami's portion to the infirmary, kicked Luffy's stretching hand from here and there and kept himself busy all along, not letting the smallest sign of discomfort or worry show in his face. Zoro knew they were there, though. And he found himself not knowing if he was more annoyed at the fact that the cook was stubborn enough as to keep it to himself or that the crew failed to notice.

His anger grew when he saw the cook's serving. It was even smaller. Much smaller. And he left half of it for Luffy to calm him down. Again, no one noticed. Now that he thought about it, Sanji's servings had been smaller ever since he had realized they were short of food supplies. But anger dissipated into a pained feeling Zoro couldn't quite pinpoint, so he settled for murdering his food with his fork, trying to ease some of the tension he was feeling. He didn't even know why he cared so much anymore.

The crew slowly left as they finished, leaving Sanji to do the dishes with Usopp. Zoro saw the long-nose leaving the galley when they were done and took the chance to sneak in, promising himself he wouldn't snap.

Once he was inside and facing a surprised cook, he stopped and wondered why he was in there in the first place. He came to the conclusion that his brain had switched off a while ago, not letting him connect his missing common sense with his actions. But he was already there and Sanji was already looking at him with a questioning look that reminded him of a non-spoken 'what the fuck do you want', and flying out of there would do him little favour. So he stayed.

"Hey."

Sanji blinked but nodded, acknowledging his presence. He was sat near the counter, noting things in his notebook, apparently doing inventory and meal planning all over again.

When Sanji realized Zoro wasn't trying to steal booze and felt him sitting next to him, he finally left his devices aside, sitting straight and really looking at the swordsman.

"What?"

Zoro shrugged. He really didn't know what he was doing there. Neither he knew what he wanted. Well, he knew, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. He was pretty sure that if Sanji heard him say he just wanted to erase the expression he was currently making out of his face, he'd kick him. Hard. So he shut up for good.

"Marimo."

Zoro looked back at him when he heard the pissed off tone directed at him. He was probably not in the right path for avoiding a potential painful kick if he kept on acting like this.

"You know, I was just thinking..."

"That's new."

"Shut up, asshole."

"Get to the point. Lately I'm even seeing you sailing in my soup. Any reason you're here or you just wanted to enjoy my inestimable company?"

Zoro scowled at Sanji's mocking tone.

"_Obviously,_ I came here to enjoy your company, you know I adore you," he snapped back with sarcasm overdose. That earned him a smirk from Sanji mirroring his own.

"Who wouldn't," Sanji retorted with a playful fighting tone.

"Oh, you'd be surprised to know," Zoro bit back, quickly falling into their own interaction rhythm.

Which Sanji cut off when he got serious again. Now that he looked at him, he really looked tired. And not just physically. Silence filled the room, both of them absently looking at each other with their faces held by their own hands, elbows against the counter. It was almost funny how they had mirrored each other's pose without realizing.

Zoro wondered why it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. But he didn't feel the need of looking away and neither did Sanji, apparently. Actually, that had been the most comfortable and calm he'd been in a while, there, lost in Sanji's blue orb.

Sanji's worried wrinkles started to disappear and he slowly switched from being anxious to plainly tired and surprisingly relaxed. He had been trying to read what was behind Zoro's steel eye and at some point he had just lost his purpose, simply staring back for the sake of it. It felt weirdly calming. And intimate.

Time went by without any of them moving or looking away, their bodies slowly relaxing. Sanji was starting to feel sleepiness invading his body for first time in a while when Zoro's brain seemed to return back home and the swordsman opened his mouth to speak, not leaving Sanji's eye.

"You know, right before Luffy found me I starved for more than a week. Some marine bastard arrested me and promised me he'd let me go if I survived a month without eating."

Sanji's expression changed as Zoro spoke, becoming unreadable. But he noticed the tension back in his shoulders.

"He intended to kill me anyways," Zoro shrugged, remembering the experience. "I think... I think I managed nine days before Luffy came by and freed me. Then I joined him."

Sanji hadn't spoken yet. He just stared at him and Zoro realized something deep within the cook had changed as he kept on talking. He didn't know why he expected Sanji to answer, but the cook never did. Now that he took a better look... Was there pain in his eyes? Sympathy? He was really trying hard to read him, but he couldn't, for the life of him, decipher what it was that the cook was looking at him with.

Zoro felt a shiver run down his spine and forced himself to continue.

"What I'm trying to say is..." he started. But Sanji's expression was finally changing into something he could read and it was dangerously reminding him of a hostile snarl. He didn't let it take him back and instead resumed what he was saying, feeling tension fill the room. "What I'm trying to say is that, if we can't really manage to hunt something down, I could... you know, stop eating and the food would last longer."

Now it was definitely a snarl. No, it was worse. Zoro hadn't even seen that face on the cook when he fought against his enemies. That made something in Zoro's stomach twist, but he forced himself not to back off, even when the atmosphere had turned oppressive as fuck. He didn't know why, but he felt the urge to defend himself.

"You know I can take it. It's no big deal and the crew needs it."

Sanji was trembling. His eyes were still boring a hole in Zoro's and Zoro felt like he couldn't keep his stare in place like this. There was suddenly something _very_ wrong in the situation. All calm had evaporated and now everything Zoro could feel was a legitimate apprehension of losing his life. He had never seen Sanji this angry. He didn't even understand what he had done wrong.

When Sanji moved, Zoro braced himself for impact, not finding it in him to physically defend himself from the incoming attack. Even though that one would hurt like a bitch.

But the attack never came. Zoro blinked and looked back at Sanji, who had stood up and was glaring at him in a way that actually hurt. What made it worse was the hurt behind Sanji's eyes, the primal rage that showed in his features as his whole body trembled in an attempt to control himself.

His voice was surprisingly steady when it finally made it out of his mouth.

"I'll pretend I haven't heard that," he started. Then he jabbed a finger against the swordsman's scarred chest, which clenched at the contact, not knowing what to expect. "If ever hear you suggest it again I'm going to personally kick your ass out of this ship. You. Will. Eat."

And that was mandatory. No room for a reply, no room for an argument. It was imperative and Zoro didn't find his voice to say otherwise. What had that been? How had the situation switched to that? Damn, he couldn't stand seeing Sanji looking like this. But he had apparently fucked up and didn't even know why.

"Out of my kitchen," Sanji ordered in a glacial tone that cut deeper than his katana's blades.

Zoro didn't register his body walking to the door until his hand reached the door knob.

And, suddenly, rage kicked in. What the fuck. His mouth was spilling words before he even thought about what he was saying.

"I'll eat."

He turned to face Sanji, who was frozen in place, clearly having trouble controlling himself from kicking the swordsman's face in. Which only riled Zoro up further.

"But only, and I mean it, _only_ if you fucking eat as well. Don't think I haven't noticed you're barely eating, bastard."

"But I fucking ate!" Sanji snapped, nearly losing it. "It's not like I intend to fucking starve myself like you just suggested you'd do!"

"That's what I hate about you!" Zoro snarled, crossing the distance between them and getting into Sanji's space. "You're always like this, dammit! What the fuck, Sanji! Do you think you are the only one with the right to make sacrifices for the crew?!"

"What?!" Sanji snorted in disbelief, rage taking over his features. "_You_'ve got some nerve telling _me_ this after Thriller Bark, you damn self-sacrificing bastard! And now you just go and offer to starve yourself! Don't you dare tell me that when you're the worst when it comes to this kind of shit!"

"And what the fuck does Thriller Bark have to do with this?!"

Sanji's insides burned. He suddenly saw red and only realized he had kicked Zoro to the other side of the galley when he saw him slammed against the wall and groaning in pain.

"You don't fucking understand!"

"No, you are fucking right, I don't! Why the fuck is it only you who can carry the whole crew's burden?! What about the rest, you egotistical bastard!"

"That's _my_ line!" Sanji all but screamed as he straddled Zoro in place, barely restraining himself from punching the swordsman. His hands weren't at fault after all. "What does it feel like, uh?! Are you angry?! Well, damn perfect, because that's how I felt like in Thriller Bark, so shut the fuck up and stop telling me what I can't do when you're the first one to do it without a care in the world for how the people who care about you will feel!"

"I still don't understand what Thriller Bark has to do with all this shit!" Zoro yelled, really not getting anything anymore.

"Because you're a fucking idiot, that's why!"

Zoro's eyes bored into blue as his fist reached for Sanji's shirt and tie to aggressively drag him inches away from his face as he yelled, "Will you shut up and fucking listen for a minute?!"

Sanji gasped at the sudden closeness and Zoro saw his mouth shut and his jaw clench to a painful level, abruptly freezing in place. Zoro sighed in relief and ordered his thoughts so that he could properly get them through before the blonde snapped again.

"I promise, I fucking _swear,_ I _will_ eat if that's what you want, but only and _only if_ you don't fool around with your own feeding," he informed, firm voice and stern look.

He saw the beginning of a snarl in Sanji's expression and his big calloused hands darted to the cook's hips, griping him with bruising force to keep him in place.

"I mean it."

Sanji's body started to calm down, his ragged breath reaching Zoro's face, his trembling and heavy breathing reverberating against Zoro's stomach, where he was seated.

Suddenly, his visible eye seemed to become understanding of the words spoken, not leaving Zoro's, who was trying to convey his determination silently. Zoro's thumbs started to soothingly draw small pressing circles on Sanji's hips without him processing his own actions. The motion seemed to calm Sanji down.

Once he realized what he was doing, Zoro asked himself why Sanji was letting him and, even more, why he was doing it in the first place. But he couldn't tear his eye from Sanji, taking in the way his expression started to relax, the way his breath calmed down, the way his tights felt hot against his sides, how Sanji's precious hands warmly rested against Zoro's chest no longer clutching his clothes, the way his body got rid of the tension and anger at the same rhythm Zoro's thumbs massaged gentle circles against his hips, no longer holding him in place but just soothingly rubbing there for the sake of it.

He definitely ignored the weird pounding in his chest as the room was filled with a whole new kind of tension.

"Sanji, I need you to promise back. Okay?" he finally let out in a shaggy breath. That was the fourth or fifth time that day Sanji's name had slipped through his lips.

Sanji took a few moments to answer but when he did, it was with a nod. His eye was still buried in Zoro's. And with the intense way he was looking at him, Zoro suddenly felt something hot launching south and... no, no, no, no, NO! Zoro's grip on Sanji's hips tightened, making the blonde gasp, but he still didn't move. For fuck's sake, that was so _not_ happening! Whatthefuck, _whatthefuck_. What. The. Fuck!

Zoro thanked his lucky star that Sanji was sat on his stomach and not further down. That would have probably earned Zoro his early young death. He felt his face tense as he thought of a way out and tried to keep his cool so that he didn't give anything away. He didn't need that. Shit! That should have never happened to start with! The fuck was wrong with him!

"Hey," he rasped awkwardly. Still, he was quite proud his voice wasn't far away from composed and casual. "Hey, cook, let's go to bed. We're both tired," he suggested as he tensely patted the side of Sanji's hip in order to snap them both off their trance and urge Sanji to stand up. Which he did, finally leaving Zoro's gaze while sighing.

"Sorry about that."

Zoro froze in place, forgetting about his damned sneaky hard-on as the cook's apologize sank in. It had sounded sincere. And it wasn't often that the cook apologized to him. Zoro blinked and awkwardly stood up, thanking his loose clothing for covering anything that would have led to what would have definitely been the most uncomfortable moment of his life.

"Uhm, yeah. Don't worry."

Sanji nodded and lit a cigarette, his calm and suave stance back in place. Then he walked to his notebook and working stuff in order to keep on doing inventory or whatever he had been about to do before Zoro walked in.

Zoro scratched the back of his hair as he carefully approached the cook.

"Hey," he started again, catching Sanji's attention back. When Sanji looked at him he really felt like blushing, but held an awkward gaze and fought it off. "Sleep?"

"Nah, you go. I need to work on this," Sanji waved as he went back to his devices, apparently oblivious to what had just happened. He really looked tired. Deflated.

"Come on, shit-cook, you need sleep, stop being fucking stubborn!" Zoro insisted, not daring to close the distance separating them. He was actually glad he found it in him to fall back to his usual way of addressing to the cook. That felt normal. That felt safe. That totally made him forget about the little situation his nether parts had just gone through. Speaking of which, part of his brain was already thinking of castrating himself after going through such a villainous treachery courtesy of his unhelpful body or brain or wherever that had come from. But he'd have time to think about it later. Right now he needed to face the suddenly pissed off expression the cook was directing at him _while_ keeping a pose that didn't reveal the bulge in his pants.

"Don't push it, marimo," Sanji warned with a small snarl.

Oh, so Sanji was still pissed. Of course. Moody bastard. Having been able to calm him down had already been a great feat, he shouldn't have expected to make his hissy fit fade away just like that. Well, pissed off Sanji he was used to and he could gladly take it. At least it wasn't furious Sanji anymore. The bad furious kind, not the one he enjoyed fighting.

"Whatever," Zoro shrugged, judging it best to just make a safe escape instead of pushing his luck further. The previous chest-tightening fight and the later small southern accident had been enough risks taken for tonight, thank you very much.

Tension had already dissipated and now he could finally breathe normally, the situation slowly sailing to their usual known interaction territory, much to his relief.

"Night."

"...Night."

Zoro paused just before making his exit, turning yet again to the cook, who sensed his small stop and looked at him with a frown, waiting for whatever he had to say. And Zoro wanted to tell him to go to sleep, he wanted to tell him not to worry so much, he wanted to tell him he could count on him, he wanted to tell him he didn't like that tired face he was wearing because it made him worried, but he didn't find the words to do so. That would have earned him a kick anyways.

"We'll try again tomorrow," was what he finally managed, a small smile tugging his lips. Then it turned into a smirk. "Hold your shitty-self together, crap-cook."

He barely dodged the spatula thrown at him and heard the cook insult him with what he had to admit was a colourful ingenious palette of curses before he closed the door behind him in time to block a flying shoe aimed at his face.

* * *

When he finally made it to his hammock, he was not amusedly smiling anymore but asking himself the same question over and over and over again.

_What the hell?_

Zoro was no fortune teller, but he already knew that it was going to be a long night without an ounce of sleep.

Great.

* * *

**A/N: **Hiiiiii! So, did you like this one? Things are starting to get messy between them! I hope you liked it, I'm working on the next one! :)

Thanks for all your reviews!


	11. Chapter 11 - Special Bond

...

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Special Bond**

* * *

Sanji frowned at his notebook, tapping the tip of his pencil against its surface.

He couldn't concentrate on what he was doing, much to his annoyance. Planning meals wasn't an easy job, contrary to what some may think, much less without many supplies he could work with. They would seriously have a problem if he didn't think of something or they didn't manage to fish something. Some kind of fatalistic instinct told him there were no fishes to be caught and there weren't going to be. He tried to brush the thought off, leading his attention to his notebook once again, only to end up sighing and hiding his face behind his hands, profusely rubbing it.

That had been a nasty fight. Not their usual kind of bickering or playful fights, but a serious one. Sanji didn't really know what had gotten into him, but deep inside he was quite proud he had been able to restrain himself for so long before actually kicking the marimo for good measure. Damn, that had been a hard kick. He vaguely wondered if maybe he'd broken some of the swordsman's ribs...

But damn, didn't the bastard deserve it! Just thinking of what he had suggested made him want to get up, wake the moss-head from his sleep and drag him out to kick his ass. Self-sacrificing martyr-like bastard! He was always the same and Sanji hated that side of him. He hated it because it fucking hurt. Just remembering Thriller Bark made him want to kill something. And yet, the bastard had dared to scold him for cutting up his own rations. He did have some nerve telling him that as if he hadn't just suggested to starve himself for the sake of the crew, damn him!

He realized he was storming to the door with the sole intention of really kicking his ass again, but once his wandering brain caught up with his actions, he forced himself to sit back down and calm the fuck down. He was pissed, right, but no need to cause another scene. The initial primal rage had vanished and he had some self-control left so he ordered himself to relax.

And while he did, the memory of Zoro's thumbs massaging his hips assaulted him, his cheeks deeply blushing as it was the first time he gave it some thought. He hadn't really noticed back when he was sat on Zoro's stomach, he only felt rage and worry and all those shitty feelings wash away at the same rhythm Zoro's soothing fingers had taken while he got lost in his one eye. But now it was really time to ask himself what the hell had happened. Seeing it from certain distance, it _definitely_ had been weird. He didn't know where that had come from, he didn't even know if Zoro had noticed what he was doing, but what bugged him the most was that he didn't mind. It had been relaxing. It had been weirdly hypnotic, damn intimate and kind of... just right what Sanji needed somehow, seeing as it had been _Zoro_ who was trying to calm him down.

He didn't hear the galley door opening and closing and he didn't hear the padding footsteps until Luffy's face was practically plastered to his. Sanji gasped and jumped about a feet in the air as he regained some personal space.

"Luffy!"

"Sanji! I want meat! I'm hungry!" Luffy informed with his usual beam.

Sanji sighed and frowned at him, sitting back in place. "No food Luffy. Sorry."

Surprisingly enough, Luffy just nodded and sat in front of him, as if he had understood and accepted Sanji's negative, which couldn't be possible because, like... I mean, he was _Luffy_! Sanji blinked at him, stunned, not really believing what his own eyes were telling him. Monkey D. Luffy accepting a meal's refusal? His usual line of action would have certainly been refusing his refusal, that's how his captain's brain worked. What the heck, was the world ending or something?!

Sanji was dragged out of his line of thought as Luffy's expression turned half serious.

"You fought with Zoro."

Sanji froze in place, his eyes on Luffy's, trying to read what was going through the teen's head without much luck. Shit, he had heard. Well, it's not like they hadn't been loud, but Sanji had hoped the rest of the crew would be sleeping and oblivious to their nasty confrontation.

"How do you know?"

"Heard you yelling at each other. You slamming him against a wall wasn't exactly subtle either. You kicked _hard_ this time," Luffy shrugged.

"I always kick hard, Luffy," Sanji retorted. He knew they were both aware that neither Zoro or Sanji restrained themselves when fighting each other. That's what made their fights so... enjoyable and stress-relieving. It shouldn't really come as a surprise.

"That's not what I mean," Luffy said, tilting his head to the side, looking at him as if he was stupid. "What did Zoro do to anger you so much?"

Damn Luffy and his perceptive side. The guy really seemed like the dumb type, which he was, no doubt, but sometimes he just had this side of him that didn't really match his usual character but that was always sharp and to the point. Sanji sighed, knowing a lost battle when he saw it.

"Bastard suggested to stop eating so that food would last longer for the rest of the crew," he curtly explained, feeling himself heating up as that pissed-off feeling waved at him again. He hadn't exactly told Luffy the extent of their problem regarding their food supplies, but at this point he'd do better than to assume the guy was dumb, he didn't need to explain further for Luffy to know they _had _a problem.

"Oh," Luffy commented, understanding. After all, he knew what Sanji had gone through during his childhood and knew how much of a sensitive topic that was for him.

Sanji opened both his hands in the air as he shrugged, letting the other know how much of an idiot Zoro was, and how much he couldn't help getting angry at that.

"But that's what you've been doing as well," Luffy suddenly blurted. "I mean, you haven't stopped eating, but you are eating less so that others can eat more. Isn't it stupid to get angry at Zoro for that when you are the same?"

Sanji stared at him with his mouth agape. Damn his captain. He couldn't find, for the life of him, a smart retort to give. He just stayed there, looking at Luffy as if he had grown a third head.

"Have you two sorted it out?" Luffy asked, curious and only slightly worried, maybe because he probably knew the answer.

"Uhm, yeah, kind of," Sanji managed in between his stupor. "I mean, I'm still pissed at him and he's still an utter idiot, but we're fine... As fine as Zoro and I can be, I mean. But yeah, it's sorted out, don't worry, captain."

Luffy's face stretched into a wide grin as he nodded, happy to hear that. "Excellent. I don't like my nakama fighting like that. We're all friends!"

Sanji felt a small apologizing smile tugging at his lips when facing his captain's antics.

"Anyways, you're both idiots," Luffy resumed, earning a frown from Sanji. "But it's fine since you two are very good at keeping each other's idiocy at bay!" he guffawed.

Sanji's scowl grew deeper and he maybe, just maybe, felt a slight blush tinting his cheeks.

"You two have a really special bond, you know," Luffy commented with a sincere smile as he got out of the galley, only turning to Sanji to finish voicing his thoughts out loud. "It's just a shame that you're both dumb enough not to acknowledge it."

Sanji thought he had seen a small pout in Luffy's face before he disappeared behind the closing door, leaving the cook alone in his small realm.

What. The. Fuck.

* * *

Zoro woke up with a prodding headache that told him it was about time to put his brain at good use and think. Something he didn't particularly like to do, specially when he had just woken up.

The swordsman groaned and stood up, stretching his muscles and mentally giving up as he waved hello to his sleepy brain cells. He had to suppress a growl when his ribs complained and his eyes darted down to find a large, really _large_ bruise travelling from side to side on his abdomen, right where Sanji had kicked last night. The pain was sharp and it took a while until it subsided, even with Zoro trying to nurse the wound by slightly bending forwards and staying still so as not to upset or stretch it any more. Damn, the cook could kick.

Somewhere along the hem of his black loose sleeping pants he could see the edges of the bruise that ran from hip to hip, also inflicted by the cook. Though he had received that one while Sanji protected him as he could in the middle of the storm. Zoro groaned again, deciding he was way too marked by the cook for his taste. Was the blonde planning to make his skin resemble a zebra's or what?

He finally found it in him to stand up since his brain had started to work but wasn't being particularly helpful at the moment. He tried not to trip in the dark as he unconsciously approached Sanji's hammock to see if he was in there. He realized the hammock was empty and his temper started to get the best of him when he distinguished messy sheets and a discarded shirt on it. The one Sanji had been wearing yesterday. Which meant the cook _had_ gone to sleep at some point. He felt a sigh leave his lips and nodded. Okay, he was cool with that. At least the cook had slept. He decided he'd do his mood a favour if he didn't ask how many hours of sleep he had allowed himself, though.

So that meant it must be morning already and Sanji must be cooking in the kitchen. If the rest of his crewmates were still sleeping and snoring their life away without a care in the world, that must mean it was pretty damn early too. Good. He needed private quiet time to think and make his headache fade away.

When his bare feet felt grass beneath them he was able to relax a bit. The sun was barely raising, sky still dark and stained with lingering fading stars. He walked to one of his usual spots yawning loudly and plopped himself down, finding a comfortable sitting position. He gave a small glance to the galley door, where he knew Sanji would be. Then he sighed in resignation as he closed his eyes and started the much needed yet dreaded conversation with his brain.

So. He had had an erection while Sanji was straddling him right after a really nasty fight.

Probably the least convenient moment for his body to react that way. It was actually worrying, if Sanji had noticed he'd be a dead man by now, no doubt. He had barely managed to calm him down and that had already been unexpected. He tried to bat away the memory of his thumbs unconsciously rubbing against Sanji's hips in a soothing way. That was the last of his problems. Back to the erection one. Yes, that one was a big problem. Where the hell had that come from?!

Instead of freaking out (since last night he had been too tired to give it a second thought and it was now all coming down to him), he focused and tried to be reasonable about it. He admitted to himself it wasn't exactly the first time something like this happened. He had a thing for challenging fights. Sometimes a damn good fight was even more rewarding than sex, at least for him. And Sanji offered plenty of those almost on a daily basis, waking all of his competitive instincts, making adrenaline rush through his body like an explosion as the raw pleasure of a challenging overwhelming fight washed over him. Sanji's daring grin fueled his own every time he was on its receiving end, and he knew there was no holding back as he enjoyed every moment of it just as much as Sanji.

They had this kind of deep understanding when it came to fighting, being against each other or back to back. He didn't have that... thing, whatever it was, with anyone else. It liberated them in ways not many things could. Or at least Zoro felt this way.

So. Fights with the cook, may the bastard never hear this from his mouth, were fantastic, powerful and raw. So. Sometimes, just sometimes and Zoro'd jump off a cliff before saying it out loud, Zoro ended a particular fight disturbingly aroused and having to run away to the bathroom with some lame excuse so that the cook wouldn't notice and feel himself invited to kick his brains out for real.

All in all it wasn't _that_ strange. Disturbing, yes, but it had happened before. And Zoro swore it was the thrill of the fight, and some damaged brain cell of his that somehow kept connecting it with sex, that caused those arousals to happen every now and then. It had nothing to do with the cook. Nope. Not _at all_. Though it only ever happened with Sanji, and Zoro's list of fighting in general wasn't exactly lacking or short. _Oh, thanks, yeah, that was really helpful, _Zoro scolded his brain. Ugh, he definitely had more than one damaged brain cell in there.

He reminded himself that the purpose of this small meditating time was to convince himself that last night's incident didn't have anything to do with the cook's person. Pouring mental images of Sanji's twists and turns when he fought, his flexibility making him bend in ways that should be impossible, his defying agitated scowl when he kicked, his nose slightly wrinkling with every snarl, his cigarette hanging loose between his lips... No. His stupid brain pouring those kind of images didn't exactly help his case _andwhywashegettinghardagaindammit_!

He face-palmed and groaned loudly, cursing himself and trying to think of something that could counterattack the aftermath of his brain's mutiny. He tried with Franky's tightest speedo, but he was too used to it by now for it to have any effect. The image had already killed all the neurons it had to kill since he had to endure the sight every day. He tried with Usopp in a bikini. He groaned even louder, almost whining in despair at the mental picture. He'd have nightmare's that night. Well, at least he had solved his little – not so little, pun intended - problem down there. That if he hadn't killed the poor thing for ever.

"I'm not sure I want to ask what you're doing."

The damn voice startled him and almost made him gasp. There was the cause of his growing headache. Damn him. Zoro slowly lifted his head and fixed Sanji with a glare.

"No, you don't."

Sanji shrugged and brought his cigarette to his lips as he scanned the horizon. Then Zoro realized the cook hadn't come from the galley but from somewhere else.

"Where have you been?" he found himself asking.

Sanji raised an eyebrow at that. Zoro realized a bit too late that he shouldn't have asked and slapped himself mentally. That wasn't in their usual relationship frame.

"What? Missed me, marimo?"

"I'll strangle you," Zoro growled, embarrassment taking the best of him as he remembered why he hated the cook and why last night's hard-on _couldn't_ have anything to do with his person. _At all_.

"That looks nasty," Sanji commented as he pointed his cigarette to Zoro's abdomen. Zoro looked at it and registered the large ugly bruise, which was getting darker and darker by the moment. Then he blinked at the cook.

"Sorry about that," Sanji muttered while looking away with a genuine apologetic expression taking over his features.

No. That wasn't in their usual relationship frame either. Zoro tried to calm an unsettling feeling in his stomach and shook his head, awkwardly fixing his glare on the grass beneath him.

"S'alright," he said. "Doesn't hurt."

"Bullshit," Sanji retorted, his tone annoyed. Zoro looked back at him, feeling more comfortable when he met the blonde's pissed-off look. Yeah, that was in their usual relationship frame. Something about that helped him calm down. "Has Chopper taken a look at it yet?"

"Nope."

Sanji rolled his eyes. No use in trying to talk some sense in that marimo head of his. Trying to get Zoro to visit Chopper in order to get treated was like trying to dissuade Luffy of getting himself into trouble. That is, pointless. Not that Sanji was much better himself.

"I may go see Chopper later," Zoro shrugged, not really promising anything.

"I kicked hard."

"You did."

"You pissed me off."

"My line. Still angry?"

Sanji shrugged and sat in front of him. "As long as you don't say something as retarded as you did last night ever again, I'll let it pass."

Zoro frowned at him and decided not to remind the cook of the fact that he'd been acting stupid with the food too. No need to rile him up any more, he'd had enough with yesterday's fight. That hadn't been a pleasant one. That one had been nasty and serious, he had managed to press the only button he shouldn't press on Sanji. No need to repeat the experience.

His stupid brain had to come knocking at his sanity's door then, telling him that if it hadn't been the kind of fight he enjoyed... well, it couldn't have been the cause of his unwanted arousal, could it? He could almost see his brain growing a face for the sole purpose of looking smug and mocking him. Enough! It wasn't the time to be thinking about that, not in front if the cook! Some paranoid side of him was afraid that Sanji had acquired mind-reading powers and he didn't really need to be pummeled to the ground by a seething blonde.

"Uhm... Sorry if I upset you too..." Zoro mumbled when he remembered Sanji's pained expression as he kicked him. He had been furious but mostly hurt. Having to swallow his pride to apologize helped him get undesired thoughts out of his head, since that action took all his efforts and concentration.

"What about this one?"

Zoro looked at Sanji and followed his gaze, which was fixed on his hips, where the edge of his other blonde-inflicted bruise stuck out.

"Ah," Zoro smirked and lowered the hem of his pants until all of the bruise could be seen, making quite a show of exhibiting his sculpted v-line, pulling the pants dangerously _low_. "Yours too."

Sanji turned all shades of red until he thought he was about to combust and a sharp kick collided against his knee. "Put that back in place, you indecent bastard!" Sanji screeched, making an effort to look utterly disgusted at the sight of the most perfect v-line he had ever seen. "Fucking shameless marimo!" he muttered as he lit himself another cigarette.

Zoro burst into laughter at his reaction, letting go of the hem of his pants as it went back into place with a plop. He suppressed a wince and cursed his idiocy since the sharp slapping contact with the bruise made it hurt like a bitch.

"I don't remember kicking you there," Sanji commented, looking everywhere but the bruise or Zoro's eyes.

"You didn't. It's from when you pinned me against the railing with your leg so that we didn't fly away," Zoro explained, feeling a bit more comfortable and relaxed. Exactly the contrary of how Sanji was feeling right now. "It actually hurts like a bitch," he teased with a smirk, see if he could make him apologize again. He had been too shocked to gloat over the last one.

"Well, fuck you, I saved your ass, so you should be thanking me instead of complaining," Sanji snapped with an irritated look. Then his expression turned smug, which usually meant bad news for Zoro. "Plus, we're even with this one since you bruised me pretty bad too."

Zoro froze when his eye followed Sanji's hands as the blonde talked. By now his shirt was unbuttoned and the bastard was opening it widely so that Zoro could take a look at his chest which, indeed, flaunted a pretty bad bruise running from side to side where Zoro's forearm had pinned the cook against the railing as they flew away of their doomed fate back in the center of the storm. His abdomen was slightly bend as he was leaning forward in his sitting position. The bastard had defined killing abs despite his lean figu-_Nope_. Abort. Back to the bruise. _Back to the bruise_.

Sanji was smugly smirking at him. Zoro frowned in response.

"Not gonna apologize for saving your ass," he growled, trying to distract himself with the annoyance that kind of smirk awakened in him.

"You mean while I was saving yours."

"Whatever."

The sky was being painted in fainter colours and pastels, washing the remnants of the night away. It was chilly, Zoro realized as he slightly shivered when weak breeze blew by.

"If you're cold go put on something, you damn show-off," Sanji scoffed pointing at his bare tan chest with his cigarette.

The fact that Sanji was directly looking at his bruised six-pack delayed Zoro's retort as he had to force his brain to concentrate.

"'Cause you're wearing your shirt buttoned up like a nun, being all demure," he replied while pointing at Sanji's open shirt, which currently framed the blonde's torso leaving nothing to the imagination.

Sanji snorted. "Demure? Is it your word of the day? Quite a vocabulary for a sprouting plant like yourself, well done, I'm proud."

"Fuck off, scrawny bastard dartbrow," Zoro growled in irritation, secretly thanking the fact that they had moved to his comfort zone once again. That was more like them.

"What now? Scrawny? Thought your brain and your ugly face were your only damaged items, didn't know you were also _blind_," the blonde snarkily retorted while gesturing with a hand over his own abs with a cocky smirk.

"You don't really want to start this argument, curly-brow," Zoro bit back as he straightened himself and tensed his own tan abs for the cook to see. If it was muscle mass they were arguing about, Zoro was _definitely_ the victor, he didn't lift monstrous weights for nothing, even if it wasn't exactly for the purpose of looking good as he had better things to care about. Wait, were they really arguing about who had better abs? How had the conversation ended up there?

Sanji raised an amused eyebrow. "Mine are natural, bastard, I don't go around lifting weights and training like a psycho."

"And _that_ is why you have a scrawny ass."

"My ass is _fantastic,_ excuse you. Decidedly better than yours, you damn over-worked Neanderthal."

"You wish, shit-cook."

"Poor deluded bastard, you _really_ think yours is better than mine, don't you?" Sanji dramatically sighed in a patronizing tone as he looked at Zoro as if he was particularly retarded.

Zoro suddenly bit back what he was about to answer and blinked, freezing for three seconds.

"Cook?"

"What," Sanji took a drag, looking at him with a bored expression to let him know how much he wanted to listen to what he had to say. Which was somewhere below zero.

"Mmmh... How do I put this? Uh... Couldn't help but notice that we're arguing about... Uh... who has a better ass," Zoro deadpanned.

His expression was immediately mirrored as Sanji's cigarette froze midway to his lips. He blinked once. Then twice.

"Uh... Yeah, looks like it."

Zoro blinked again and Sanji blinked back, both frozen in place.

"Uh... I'll go... Uh... Make breakfast. Because... Uh... that's what I do. You know, I cook. And it's morning so, uh... Yeah, breakfast," Sanji babbled as he awkwardly stood up, deadpan expression still in place.

"Uh... Yeah, I'll... I'll meditate... or train... or nap, or something," Zoro muttered back as he scratched the back of his hair. "Because, you know... uh... that's what I do."

"You lazy bastard," Sanji retorted as he lit yet another cigarette, feeling the awkward moment dissipate. How many had he smoked already? Damn, the swordsman really put him on edge.

Sanji's pissed off tone brought Zoro back to reality as the situation once again sailed the known waters of their ordinary relationship. Sanji turned to head to the galley and suddenly a thought came to Zoro's mind, remembering his initial question to the cook this morning.

"Wait, where were you before?"

Sanji turned with a raised eyebrow, apparently surprised, but then smirked and Zoro knew the cook was biting back a remark of how much Zoro had missed him or about if Zoro was his mother or something. He could read it in the bastard's eyes. Luckily for both of them and the security of Sunny, Sanji stuck to a simple non-mocking answer.

"Wandered around that stupid rock for a while, see if I found something I hadn't yesterday. No such luck," he informed as he shrugged it off. But Zoro could see his expression, bordering the defeated line, and he didn't like it one bit. Zoro wondered if there was a single moment Sanji hadn't been worried over the last few days. Maybe when they were arguing about their abs and asses, he hadn't seemed really troubled back then. Shit, how had they ended up arguing about something that retarded, again?

Zoro simply nodded and closed his eyes as he sat in a meditating stance so that the cook knew the conversation was over. He heard his footsteps walk away and relaxed.

Well, that had been weird and surreal and utterly _idiotic_. Not the kind of conversation he had ever expected to have with the cook. Not the kind of conversation he had ever expected to have with anyone at all. Though it would only be normal for them to fight over something stupid once one of them had claimed he was better than the other at said thing. It just had happened to be their asses this time. He had no doubt they could argue for hours about who had better aligned eyelashes for that matter. The problem was that his body and brain were currently leading a rebellion against his sanity and imagining the cook's ass didn't exactly help his case. Zoro growled in frustration and settled for a healthy 'what the fuck' because, honestly, he didn't know what to think anymore.

Maybe he just needed to get laid. Wait, what?

Or maybe he just needed to stop being all over the cook in his paranoid protective fit, since the last few days he had invested more of his time worrying and watching Sanji for any changes of mood than training or napping. Which was quite illustrative coming from him.

Or maybe he just needed to stop being a fucking idiot and shut his hyperactive brain down. Yeah, he could use a nap.

* * *

Sanji closed the kitchen door behind him, a small smirk drawn on his face.

"What the fuck?" he voiced out loud.

That had been awkward and decidedly embarrassing as fuck, but his mood was somehow lighter.

Had he just tried to compete with the swordsman about who had better abs? What kind of suicidal argument was that! He was bound to lose against Zoro's bulky figure, not that Sanji had anything to be ashamed of, he knew he had nice defined abs and a good figure, but damn, trying to show his muscles off to the swordsman was a lost cause.

But then the conversation had ended up competing on who had a better ass which was definitely weird and embarrassing and retarded altogether, and he had to be grateful that Zoro had beat some sense into the whole situation or, knowing them and how they didn't back down from a challenge no matter what, they'd be _really _comparing their asses right now. Or would they?

Wait, wait, wait, what the hell! Sanji let out a mortified growl as he face-palmed and let his hand painfully rub down his face as he stared at the suddenly very interesting ceiling.

It had started being a serious conversation, for God's sake, he had walked to the swordsman in order to apologize and all that shit because just _last night_ they had had the nastiest fight they'd had in a while and he really felt bad, and he had just swallowed his pride to let him know, and Zoro had somehow ended up apologizing as well, which was something absolutely exceptional and serious coming from them both, and _ yet _they had ended up arguing about their respective _asses_. How had it all come down to that again?

Too much of a mindfuck, he decided, and he really didn't have time to mull over whatever had gotten into them in the last few days. Because there had definitely been something weird haunting their relationship ever since Nami got hurt and the swordsman had started acting weird – or was it himself?- but it was easier and far more convenient to bat it away and settle for his familiar 'what the fuck'.

Yeah, leaving that question hanging in the air every time he didn't understand what the hell was happening during his interactions with the swordsman did the trick. It was a self-defense mechanism, really. Living in that crazy ship with his crazy crew required some just-let-it-be attitude. If he had to question his captain's stupidity every time he did something stupid, or why Franky had to wear that offending speedo or why the fuck Zoro was growing moss for hair, just to put some illustrating examples, Sanji would have already gone nuts.

So yeah, the what-the-fuck trump card always came in handy in that crew. Just ask yourself _the_ question with the suitable dumbfounded expression and then shrug it off. You'll find yourself suffering from far less migraines at the end of the day.

Once that particular nagging feeling was shrugged away, Sanji concentrated on making breakfast, trying not to get discouraged by the smaller amount of food he'd be able to cook. He couldn't help but feel worry creep its way into his stomach, though. That was one of the two problems he didn't seem to be able to shrug away no matter how hard he tried. That and the guilt he felt every time he thought of Nami's injury. Crap.

Sanji let out a shivering breath and regained his composure, waving the thoughts away so that he could work in peace but knowing they'd come back later to bother him once again.

The lighter mood resulting from his earlier bickering with Zoro did help to ease the tension and unease he felt, though.

A small smile tugged his lips when he agreed with himself once again that his ass was way more fantastic than Zoro's.

Obviously.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N:** helloooooo there! Here's another one for you guys! I really hope you like it, let me know what you think! As always, thank you so much for your reviews, they really do help and they make me so happy!

I'll try an update another one soon! I'm working on it and it's almost done!

:)


	12. Chapter 12 - Stroke of Luck

...

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Stroke of Luck**

* * *

Nami finally joined them for lunch.

Zoro couldn't help but smile when he saw her sitting with the rest of the crew, even if it was Nami. Her being a witch didn't mean he didn't appreciate the redhead as a nakama, and her presence definitely brought happiness over his crewmates. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were performing a weird-as-fuck dance that didn't exactly help their dignity, but well, it wasn't as if they cared or didn't do it daily. Brook was playing some upbeat tune with his ever-present violin and Franky was laughing for no apparent reason. Robin sat by Nami's side, chuckling and watching as the redhead rubbed her temples, feeling an incoming headache knocking at the doors of her head. But she was smiling. She had gotten thinner, even if Sanji had done his best to feed her so that she'd get well, and she was paler than usual, actually looking tired, but most of all she looked happy to be back to normal life again.

Zoro felt happy. Zoro would have definitely been happier if something wasn't off, though. Namely, the fucking cook.

Putting aside the fact that his brain had been unhelpfully coming back to the morning argument about their asses, which he didn't need at all, thank you very much, the current behaviour of said cook was getting on his nerves. Not that he was doing anything annoying in itself, it was just that feeling of wrongness again.

Luffy had demanded a feast to celebrate Nami's comeback and Sanji had obliged. Zoro had a list of mental reasons of why the cook had done this even though they were running short of food supplies, none of which he liked. Be it that Nami was female and Sanji became idiotic around women, the fact he wouldn't let the crew realize how bad of a situation they were in regarding the food supplies and so he'd try and not alarm them by not refusing because he was an idiot and it was just like him to keep his troubles to himself, or the worst, the fact that he still felt guilty for Nami's injury and so he felt the need to do anything within his reach to make it up to her. It was that last reality imprinted in Sanji's eyes every time he looked at Nami that drove Zoro nuts.

He was cooing and apparently acting like his usual self around her, but he could see the guilt behind his blue eye every time he looked at her and thought that nobody noticed. He looked happy to have her back, hell, he surely as hell was ecstatic about it, but Zoro was convinced that the bastard was still blaming himself. And Zoro couldn't stand it. Couldn't he give himself a break?

It's not like there was food abundance because Sanji was purposely keeping the rations small and perfectly controled so as to not waste anything, but in order to make it look like an actual feast, he had settled for cooking a variety of dishes he kept bringing to the table so that everyone could fill their plates with whatever they pleased. If the crew noticed the lack of abundance, they didn't say anything. The variety made up for it. The thing is that with the overwork of having to work into lots of small different dishes, the cook just kept going and coming from the stove, bringing plates and not bothering to seat and gather some food for himself.

Well, didn't that irritate Zoro. Add the looks he was giving Nami while trying to act normal and composed and you had a ballistic Zoro, who would indeed be very happy with his fantastic day if the cook of his crew wasn't a fucking idiot.

He snapped at some point and his hand darted to Sanji's empty plate by his side, dragging it next to his as he started aggressively gathering small portions of everything coming to sight to toss them ungracefully on it. Nami scowled at him from the other side of the table when he reached for one of the dishes next to her as if he was punching something. Her glare suddenly changed from annoyed to surprised when she realized what he was doing. Zoro wasn't even paying her any attention anymore since he was too busy scowling at any living thing trying to snatch a portion of whatever he was getting from him. When he considered that the bastard's plate was full enough he settled it down by his side with a loud annoyed thump.

The shithead had fucking promised not to play with his own food for anyone's sake and getting that damn promise out of his mouth had taken him a nasty fight, so Zoro wasn't about to let the bastard break his word at the first chance he got just because he was a fucking idiot and thought that by playing busy nobody would notice. Well, guess what. Zoro was developing a worryingly obsessive sickness that kept him keeping an eye on the blonde like a fucking stalker, much to his own despair, so yeah, he had fucking noticed and he would shove Sanji's serving down the cook's throat, plate and all, if he didn't sit down and fucking ate by himself.

His inner outburst was interrupted when he realized that Nami was still looking at him with her mouth agape, trying to put two and two together, because if what she had just witnessed was Zoro gathering food to keep for Sanji, then nothing made sense anymore. What was next? Luffy growing smart and polite and magically earning the ability to think twice before putting the crew in trouble? No way.

"Mind your own business," Zoro growled menacingly, wishing his glare was threatening enough as to make her look away and pretend it had never happened. It obviously wasn't.

Nami slowly smirked at him, giving him a knowing look and making sure she bored it into his brain. Then, once she was satisfied with the results, she looked away with a smug grin. Damn witch. She was gonna give him shit about this, he knew it.

His annoyance at his navigator switched when the smell of cigarettes passed by him in the form of a very busy Sanji carrying yet another dish. Now his bad mood was placed on him. When he walked by again, Zoro grabbed a fistful of his tie and pulled down, earning a startled gasp from the cook.

"Fucking sit down and eat, you're getting on my nerves," he growled. "Can't you fucking stay still for a minute?"

Sanji slapped his hand away, taking a second to register that the swordsman had effectively sat him down next to him.

"What the hell, shitty marimo?! Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I don't give a fuck, I'm seriously gonna snap if you don't stop buzzing around, you're annoying as fuck."

Really nice and friendly. It was still better than telling him that he was worried that he wouldn't eat. That would earn him a really nasty kick he'd rather avoid.

Sanji was about to retort when Luffy stretched his neck over their crew to take a look at Sanji with his mouth full and questioning eyes.

"Ah, darn! You haven't eaten yet, Sanji! Oi, sit down and eat!" he ordered, suddenly realizing their cook hadn't yet sat down until now. He never really noticed, but nobody had ever pointed it out before. Then he looked around and gasped, suddenly looking the same way he did when he was about to be on the receiving end of one of Sanji's kicks. "Dammit, I ate almost everything! Uh, sorry, sorry!" he apologized as he made a strategic retreat to hide himself from the blonde's potential rage.

"Oh, don't worry, Luffy," Nami intervened.

Zoro looked at a grinning Nami, willing her to shut up. But her face was sly and her grin defying. Nope, she wasn't going to shut up.

"Sanji's got a nice full plate set aside for him just right there," she pointed, a devilish smile flashing at Zoro, who was about to go all shades of red, both from anger and embarrassment. "I wonder who may have been so kind as to do it."

Zoro was ready to send her back to the infirmary. Had he been happy that she was back? Well, scratch that!

"I did."

Both Zoro and Nami turned to Robin, Zoro with a dumbfounded expression and Nami with one that suggested that the older woman had just ruined all her fun. Zoro saw Robin giving him a small smile with her chin resting on her hands as she watched both him and Sanji with interest.

"Oh, Robin, my angel! Have I ever told you how beautiful your soul is? I'm so humbled you bothered fighting these oafs for me! You've made me fall in love all over again!" Sanji cooed right after blinking for a few times. If Zoro hadn't been too busy trying to figure Robin out, he would have realized the cook's reaction came with a slight delay. Zoro rolled his eyes as he felt himself getting annoyed yet again, not bothering turning to see the cook's face by his side as he swooned over Robin. He didn't need that.

Instead he settled for gazing intently at Robin, see if he could find a silent answer for her heavenly intervention, but she just smiled her trademark unreadable smile back. As he saw that Sanji finally started eating right by his side with his eyes fixed on his food, he felt grateful and tried to convey the feeling to Robin with a quick relieved glance. He didn't need the crew to think that he was going soft on Sanji, specially Sanji. He'd seriously kick his ass for that. Moreover, he only went soft on Chopper, and only when he was being specially adorable. He was Roronoa Zoro, for crying out loud, he had a reputation to keep!

He felt Nami's gaze boring into him yet again and so he turned and gave her a death glare. She just smirked and stuck her tongue out.

Zoro sighed and finished his plate. If Robin had covered him that meant she had seen him too. It wasn't like he needed to hide anything or justify himself to anyone for something as simple as filling a nakama's plate for him, which he had done pretty obviously for anyone with two brain cells able to connect. Maybe that's why only the girls had paid attention to his food hunting. Just that it was Sanji. And he was starting to feel self-conscious of how protective he was getting over him. He couldn't explain why to himself, so the less people noticed, the less people trying to explain it for him. He could figure it out on his own, thank you very much.

* * *

It was in the afternoon, as he was taking a nap, that Sanji came to him and woke him up with a light kick in his side.

"Oi, Marimo, wake your stupid ass."

Zoro wearily opened his functioning eye. "What the hell do you want, shit-cook?"

Sanji plopped by his side and lit a cigarette giving him a side-long glance.

"You know, I don't need you babysitting me."

Zoro froze and slowly sat up, glaring at Sanji as if he was about to attack him. The blonde looked calm though. Maybe slightly pissed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Mmmh, don't know," Sanji let out some smoke shaping it into perfect circles. "Maybe the plate you filled for me at lunch?"

Zoro frowned with an uneasy feeling in his gut. As far as he knew Sanji could kick his ass for it without blinking. He knew the blonde didn't like anyone treating him like he couldn't do things by himself. But he also knew he couldn't play dumb anymore.

"Who told you?"

"No one. You think I'm an idiot?" Sanji stared at him square in the eye. "Robin was sitting at the other end of the table."

"Well, she's got her freakish powers..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why did you do it?"

"You're welcome," Zoro snarled, pissed with the blonde's attitude. It had been a nice gesture, for crying out loud! Why did the damn cook have to turn everything into a personal attack?

"I was getting there, if you'd just _wait_ and don't jump at me," Sanji sneered back.

Zoro blinked. Really? Then the idiot had a stupid way of getting to thank him. Not that he was much better when it came to these things, but he wouldn't admit it. It was easier to get pissed at the blonde for something he did just as lamely.

"So," Sanji resumed. "I take you did it because you thought I wouldn't keep my promise?"

"It flatters me that you didn't even consider the fact that I could've done it out of the pure kindness of my heart."

"No way," Sanji deadpanned.

Zoro couldn't retort to that. His line of thought when filling the blonde's plate had obviously not been filled with rainbows and butterflies but with inner promises of murder if the cook didn't eat what he offered him. So he settled for shrugging.

"So what?"

"So nothing. Just wanted to remind you that I stick to my promises, so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't think so little of my word and gave me a little bit of credit. If I'm about to cut my rations on purpose again I'll fucking let you know, so get off my back."

Zoro blinked again, the words felt almost like slap in his face. He hadn't thought of that. He had immediately assumed that the cook was going to do something retarded again. Well, he would probably have done so, but not on purpose, because he had made Zoro a promise that he _obviously_ would keep until further notice because it was _Sanji_. Zoro wanted to slap himself for real. What was up with him? He couldn't even think straight anymore when it came to the blonde and his level of protectiveness was getting real stupid.

"That being said," Sanji added as he stood up. "Thank you. Luffy would have probably ended up eating my ration if you hadn't defended it. So yeah, my satisfied stomach thanks your mossy brain for thinking of it."

Zoro felt a weird hotness creeping up his cheeks as he scoffed and shrugged as nonchalantly as he could.

"Whatever."

"You really should thank Robin for stepping in for your pride. I know you're allergic to my very person, but it wouldn't have been that awful if you had just said it was you, you know," Sanji smirked as he walked away, picturing the tense amusing face Zoro had pulled at the fear of being discovered, as if he had done something wrong. Sanji would've probably given him shit about it in public, but that was what they were like, so there had really been no need to be _that_ embarrassed. Even if, admittedly, it had been weird as fuck and completely out-of-character coming from Zoro. To him.

Zoro watched as Sanji walked away, utterly confused at his own behaviour. Sanji was right, he was making a big deal out of nothing, but it's not like he could help it, could he?

He was probably acting like an idiot, but he knew what he kept seeing in Sanji's eyes, and that image in his head was the one that told him that he wasn't overreacting that much. That there was something to really worry about under the cook's almost perfect mask. And just as it happened with the cook, he couldn't be slightly worried, but _really_ worried until the point it drove him nuts. Just as he couldn't be slightly annoyed but had to be truly pissed at him, or just as he couldn't play-fight him because he had to go all out with him.

Sanji did that to him. He fueled his emotions to the very extreme without as much as blinking, being it fighting, getting angry, needing to mock him, fall for his taunts, worrying about losing him behind a mask that tried to tell him that everything was alright when it wasn't, gravitating around him like a fucking planet around the sun, losing himself inside his stupidly beautiful blue eyes every time he looked at- wait, wait, _wait_. Not going there. Nope. See? That's what he was talking about. Sanji did weird things to him, driving him nuts being the first on the list. Maybe he had already gone nuts. Yeah, that would explain a few things. Fucking cook and how he managed to get under his skin!

* * *

Sanji sighed as he entered the peacefulness of the galley and sat himself down for a while. What the hell was up with Zoro? He had been acting weird for a while, not in a bad way, but not less surprising. He was acting as if he... as if he what? Actually cared for him? The bastard who hated his guts? The rational side of his brain told him that wasn't possible. The facts and a knot in his gut told him otherwise.

Why was he acting like that? Why was he almost being... nice? Zoro's version of nice of course. But still, he didn't need this puzzle, not when his mind was already juggling with enough problems as to make him wanna pulverize the shitty rock island they were into ashes and bury himself in it as if to materialize a cruel irony.

Zoro apparently caring about him made weird things happen to his stomach, starting with uncertainty and he really didn't need that right now. But as puzzling and new as that was, it also brought him a certain sense of safety, not that he needed to be protected or taken care of, much less by that bastard, but it helped him create the illusion that their current problems could be beaten away without as much struggle. Even if Nami had still been hurt because he had been useless, even if the pantry was emptier than the day before.

After a while he reached for his notebook and started working on a new meal plan that would hopefully keep the crew from starving. Maybe today they'd fish something and they'd be in less of a tight spot.

* * *

Luck wasn't on their side as they didn't get a damn fish or bird or whatever could have filled their stomachs neither that day nor the two days after. Just because there was apparently no living thing around. Portions had become much smaller, the crew left with their stomachs feeling only half satisfied after the meals, and Sanji was beginning to climb the walls of his beloved kitchen restraining the fundamental need of destroying something.

So that morning he finally gathered the whole crew in the galley as he lit a cigarette and officially let them know the extent of the shitty problem they were facing. None of them looked surprised at all, Sanji had already commented it before –though making it seem as if it wasn't a really big deal so as not to worry them - and they had all seen their portions diminish after all, even if they hadn't complained about it, they weren't suicidal. Well, some of them were kamikaze, but either way no one was about to open their mouths to aggravate their cook, they all knew he was trying and doing his best. Even Luffy had stopped complaining and just went along with whatever Sanji gave him to eat, only occasionally claiming he was hungry just to keep the tradition.

However he could see uncomfortable expressions as the true gravity of the problem was revealed to them, namely that they'd be utterly fucked if they didn't hunt something down or reached an island soon.

"I'll really have to cut the portions even smaller if we want what's left to last," Sanji resumed, trying not to feel guilty as he watched his crewmates worried expressions looking back at him and nodding. "I'm really sorry about that," he apologized with a quiet tone as he scratched the back of his hair.

"Nah, don't worry, we'll manage!" Usopp encouraged with a confident grin and giving him a thumbs-up. "We trust you."

Sanji grew a sincere smile at that, there went their sharpshooter.

"How much time do we need before we can set sail?" Nami asked, looking at Franky, who kept a calm stance as he had already known the true extent of their problems since he had already discussed it with Sanji days ago.

"I'll need a few more days, I'm not sure. Maybe four or five, the ship's more wrecked than I expected."

Their navigator's expression turned into a dark frown, but she nodded. Hunger wasn't an enemy they could fight, the one in charge of doing that was Sanji and even he had some limits, he could not materialize food out of nothing. Nami sighed.

"Okay, no problem, we'll deal with it."

"Yeah, it's gonna be alright, Sanji!" Luffy cheered as if they didn't have an actual problem. As if going hungry wasn't one of Luffy's most dreadful nightmares. Sanji had to be grateful that their black-hole captain was behaving, it was really saving him extra unneeded trouble. But the rumble his captain's stomach made didn't go unnoticed.

As soon as he heard it, Sanji grimaced. Shit. Sanji felt guilt well up his stomach and he was about to open his mouth to apologize again when a deep voice interrupted him.

"Oi, Luffy! I challenge you! I bet I can catch more fish than you."

Sanji turned his gaze to Zoro who had been silently leaning against the galley door up until then. He had a playful challenging smirk on his face.

"Actually, I bet I can catch more fish than all of you guys together."

"What! No way!" Luffy and Usopp screamed at the same time as they mirrored each other's pose pointing accusingly at Zoro as if he had just insulted their mother.

"You can't win against Captain Usopp, thought you knew by now!"

"If it's meat we're talking about, you're busted, Zoro!" Luffy proclaimed as he stomped out of the kitchen automatically followed by Usopp. Chopper kept jumping behind them, looking excited to see who'd win the fishing contest as he gullibly listened to Usopp's fishing stories in which he claimed he had once brought the world to a serious crisis when he accidentally caught too many fishes and almost emptied the ocean.

Nami smirked as she prompted Franky to bet on who'd actually win. The cybrog seemed to take it seriously as betting against Nami was serious shit and highly inadvisable, but he wasn't one for backing down and he left the galley by her side, rubbing his chin while considering his options as Nami watched him with a cunning devilish expression, knowing the money was hers. Her fist flew back when Brook happily asked her to show him her panties and the skeleton took a moment to recover and duck out of the door.

Robin sent a warm smile in Sanji's direction until he came back from his stupor and smiled back at her beauty. Then she left but not before giving Zoro a smug smile he tried to ignore, burying his gaze in Sanji instead as she passed by his side. He didn't need the woman's know-it-all attitude right now.

Sanji stared back at him, not really knowing what to say, and when he tried to open his mouth to talk Zoro simply smirked his most annoying smile and turned to leave, leaving the cook alone with his thoughts, which right now were none.

What had that been?

Sanji felt a small smile crawling up his mouth as he gently shook his head. They were all morons. Starting with Zoro, he decidedly was the king of morons. But he still smiled, even if he knew there was no fish to catch. He took note that he'd have to thank Zoro for getting Luffy and the rest distracted from their current problems, it really was a huge help for Sanji. He briefly wondered if Zoro knew that when he challenged the rest to that stupid game.

He most definitely did.

Sanji's smile grew wider.

* * *

Zoro growled and wondered why.

Luffy was breathing like an asthmatic rhino below him, trying to catch his breath after almost drowning for the third time. Needless to say Zoro wasted no time in punching him for good measure after saving his idiot captain's life _again_. Damn, that's what Sanji was meant to do: Luffy drowns, Sanji saves his ass, that's how it worked. But Sanji was busy in the kitchen and Zoro had brought this upon himself when leading a horde of idiots out to fish.

Of course, they hadn't caught anything. Sanji had brought them small portions of lunch outside for them to eat while they diligently kept at work because they weren't going to lose to the others, of course.

It was afternoon already and no fish was to be found, though. Not that he expected otherwise, but it would have been nice if the odds had been in their favour just once. They obviously weren't. If they hadn't given up yet was because their pride was at stake after Zoro had challenged them.

Nami was looking at him with a raised annoyed eyebrow that promised pain. Apparently she had bet for him to win the challenge and Nami wasn't one on letting her money go to waste. Zoro frowned at her, left his whining captain behind and submerged again, giving a few powerful strokes to get further into the sea, see if he caught a glimpse of something.

He let the salty water caress his tan skin as he dived and forced his eye open but nothing came to view. When his lungs begged for it he obliged and broke the surface to get some oxygen into them, a frown creasing his forehead in annoyance.

"Did you find anything?"

Zoro turned to see Nami leaning against the railing and giving him a demanding look. Damn witch, she wouldn't be that interested if she hadn't bet her money on him. Zoro growled.

"What do you think?"

"Then move your ass and find something before I feel like your debts need to be charged with some more interests!"

Zoro sighed. It was useless trying to argue with her, she always had the upper hand.

"You can start raising his debts, then, because Captain Usopp is clearly the victor!"

Both Nami and Zoro glowered towards Usopp, who was wearing a stupid victorious grin as he worked with his fishing artifacts.

"You found something yet?" Nami asked.

"Nope, you just wait."

"Then shut up!"

"I'm gonna have your ass handed to you", Zoro warned before submerging again. He thought he heard Luffy claim he'd beat them all, but he just mentally rolled his eyes.

Really, was it so much to ask for luck to be on his side just this once so that he could see Sanji fucking smile and relax for a little bit? He wasn't asking for _that_ much, come on, just one fish would do!

At some point he seemed to hear Nami's voice yelling something on deck, but he was too deep in the water to understand. He would have just ignored it, but there was something in her tone, it seemed urgent. What now? Zoro internally growled and then swam towards the surface once again, only to hear Nami yelling at him and see all of his nakama shouting incoherent things and running around deck.

"Zoro get your ass back here, dammit! Now!"

"What the hell?!"

"Look at that!"

Zoro followed the direction Nami's finger pointed at and froze.

There was a big weird-as-fuck bird-like thing flapping its wings in the Sunny's direction. Next thing he registered was Luffy stretching his arm to catch it and Usopp reading his slingshot pointing to the bird as Chopper and Franky cheered madly at them.

"My win!" Luffy proclaimed with a madman grin.

"You wish!" Usopp cockily retorted by his side, waiting for the bird to get close enough.

"Zoro, I swear if you don't catch it your debts will come with you to hell!" Nami shrieked at the brink of having a mental breakdown.

"Shit!"

Zoro climbed up the ship cursing his wet clothes and getting a hold of his katanas, his gaze falling into the same crazy one as his crewmates.

"Out of my way!"

He slapped Luffy's hand away before he shot it but then Usopp shot against the bird and hit it square in the chest, the poor thing falling as it miserably tried to bat its way up and away of the danger.

"Zoro, catch it dammit!"

Zoro ignored the redhead and threw himself into the sea yet again as he realized the bird was going to fall some meters away from the ship. Just as his body broke into the water he felt two rubbery arms circling his torso and something heavy being pulled after him with a gurgling sound. He really wanted to kill his captain. The bastard had thrown himself after him so that Zoro would be busy saving him and bringing him up the deck so that when they were both on the ship Luffy could just stretch and get the bird out of the water before Zoro had time to swim back to it again. It was such a retarded strategy and yet he wasn't surprised anymore. It was just his captain's luck that Zoro's current order of priorities didn't feature saving Luffy's ass in the number one spot.

Zoro got his head out of the water and gasped with Luffy clinging to him like a monkey while whining and begging Zoro to save him. Much to Luffy's dismay Zoro flashed a demonic grin at him.

"My bad, captain. Your loss."

And then he muffled Luffy's desperate cries as he started swimming at full speed to their drowning dinner-to-be with Luffy holding onto him for dear life as he cried and choked on water. Poor bastard hadn't thought of the possibility of his retarded plan backfiring at him.

"Bring me baaaaaaaaack! Dammit Zoro you're so mean!"

"You go Zoro! Bring me my money!" Nami cheered from the railing with a raised fist while Franky cried the loss of his money by her side.

"That's not even fair! I hit it first! It's my catch!" Usopp kept yelling with undignified screeches as he accusingly pointed at the retreating lump that was their swordsman dragging a crying captain away with a scary victorious aura around him. He swore he had never seen Zoro swim so fast.

"So, Nami, as a celebration for your win, will you show me your panties?" Brook helpfully contributed. The answer came in the form of a kick that sent him flying to the other side of the deck as he let out his 'yohoho' laugh.

Robin watched with interest and a smile. "Looks like we'll have a nice dinner tonight," she commented, apparently being the only one who remembered the initial reason of that stupid Strawhat-like competition.

There was a victorious roar as Zoro caught the bird and raised it into the air for the others to see, then a loud curse and drowning sounds as Luffy managed to wrap himself even more around him, trying to steal the poor thing from Zoro and effectively sending them both underwater with a splash, earning a palette of yells and curses from Nami who kept ordering them to stop being retarded. Chopper started running around asking for a doctor to come when neither of them resurfaced.

"Well, we'll have a nice dinner if those two idiots manage not to drown themselves with it," Usopp corrected Robin with a weary sigh, giving a blank stare at the bubbling section of water where they had last seen them.

"Oi, bros, that's so not super! I want my dinner back!" Franky's arm shot towards the drowning pair with a metallic sound and the crew let out a collective sigh as they saw a mass of moss with a strangled bird against his chest and completely trapped by rubber limbs being pulled out of the water. Such a shame the angle was slightly diverted and they hit the railing head first before landing on deck.

Chopper cried for a doctor for a few more seconds before Robin helpfully reminded him that he was the doctor and then he proceeded to disentangle and revive the idiots they had for a captain and first mate.

* * *

Sanji deadpanned when the usual human earthquake made its way into the galley but his expression mutated into one of confusion when it wasn't only Luffy who appeared but also a outraged-looking Usopp and a grumbling Zoro. Zoro and Luffy were soaked. The trio seemed to be fighting over something and Sanji tried to see what it was without much luck as they were currently a tangle of limbs.

"What the hell?"

"Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Time to cook! Look what I caught!" Luffy sang as he managed to uproot his prize from the other's grasps and showed it up in the air with pride. It looked like a... very soaked weird-as-fuck bird?

"No, you didn't, liar!" Usopp scolded, not wasting time in punching Luffy's head and apparently ignoring the blatant irony that was him calling somebody else a liar. "I hit it first, then you took advantage of it! It's _my_ prey!"

"No, it isn't. I didn't see you having to cope with this idiot drowning you while trying to get the damn bird out of the water!" Zoro intervened glowering daggers at both his captain and the ship's sniper.

"Wait, what?" Sanji cut in with wide eyes fixed on the reddish bird in Luffy's hands. "You caught something?"

"Now then, I really didn't expect you to be blind aside from retarded," Zoro retorted in a flat tone.

Any other remarks were blown away, though, when Sanji's face lit up in a way that hadn't for days. It was the widest smile Sanji had in his repertoire, the one that brought wrinkles up his eyes and nose, the one that made his blue orbs shine just like the sea when the sun reflected on it, the one that seemed to pour his very soul over his features, the one that screamed 'happy' and reminded of a bright ray of sunshine. Then he let out a bark of laughter as he snatched the bird from Luffy's hands to examine it, playfully rolling his cigarette from one side of his smile to the other, cheeky grin in place.

And it looked like it had been a good catch because Sanji's smile turned into an approving one as he nodded and laughed again.

"It's perfect!" he proclaimed and then looked at them with a face-splitting grin, barely containing the snickering. "I'd go as far as to kiss all of your ugly faces but I think I'll restrain myself. Sorry guys."

"And why would I want your kiss? That would be scratchy!" Luffy contributed with a confused tilt of his head that made Sanji laugh as he absently caressed his goatee.

"Come on, out of my kitchen, I've got work to do," Sanji prodded, shooing them away.

Luffy left right away under the promise of a meaty dinner being served if he behaved, immediately followed by Usopp, who was still trying to defend his case by yelling at Luffy how it had been his catch and not his captain's nor Zoro's.

"'Out of my kitchen' applies to you as well, marimo. I don't remember giving you any privileged rights in my realm," Sanji ordered as he playfully planted a foot against Zoro's chest to make him walk away, dead bird still in hand.

"Is it useful?" Zoro asked, not flinching even a bit.

"Think so, see what I can get out of this poor thing," Sanji nodded, trying to push him away without success. It didn't help that half his strength was invested in keeping his smile at bay so as not to split his face in two. "Who caught it, really?"

Zoro shrugged. "Usopp hit it in the chest and made it fall, I got into the sea to get it out and Luffy decided it was a great idea to jump with me and drown me in the process of stealing it in order to win the bet. So, uh, yeah, Usopp and me, really. Though the bastard long-nose didn't have to put up with Luffy. That gives me extra merit."

"Thank you, then," Sanji laughed and gave him one last push. It was a loud careless laugh that accentuated the wrinkles in his nose and made his eyebrows furrow as his eyes shut close, it was Sanji's trademark laugh in all his glory, and something about it made Zoro have the sudden urge to hug him. An urge he killed with a mental slap and the promise to bang his head against a wall until he effectively managed to kill all of his working brain cells so that they'd stop messing with him. Hug the blonde? Come on, now. The cook would have killed him, that if Zoro didn't manage to kill himself first had that happened. The thought occurred that he had become suicidal. That would satisfactorily explain all of his recent retarded urges.

And yet he was broadly smiling back at the cook as Sanji helpfully closed the door in front of his nose with a swift kick.

In order to entertain himself while he waited for dinner he went to the lawn deck and took a first row seat to Nami beating Franky up, since the poor man had dared to suggest that the bet was about catching fish and not a bird, in order to save his funds. Judging by the punch received, Nami didn't agree. Then he tried suggesting that they should call it a draw since he had bet for Usopp and he had hit the bird so that Zoro could go catch it. If his mortified face when Nami informed him that the interests in his debts had risen to crazy figures was anything to go by, Nami didn't agree either.

Zoro found himself not being able to wash his plastered smile away.

* * *

Turns out that just a reduced amount of the meat the bird had to offer was usable and edible, so even though Sanji managed to make a bigger amount of food for dinner, he couldn't save any for further days.

Zoro knew just by looking at Sanji that their mirth hadn't lasted long. They hadn't even finished dinner, but his pensive expression told him he was already jumbling with the next few days menus, probably struggling to find other ways of making their food supplies last in case they didn't get another lucky catch just as this one.

The happy-go-lucky crew didn't seem to realize as everyone was busy barricading their dishes from Luffy's assaults, but Zoro sure as hell did. And he knew for a fact that the idiot would start on inventory again once the crew left the galley, probably going to sleep at shit o'clock in the morning if he ever got some sleep at all. Which Zoro wasn't about to let happen.

"Who washes dishes today?" Nami asked among their loud chatter.

"I think it's marimo's turn," Sanji answered absently as he started washing some pans.

"Yeah, I think so..." Zoro answered, forcing himself to follow the conversation instead of mentally reprimanding Sanji in advance. He didn't miss Nami's surprised look directed at him, probably due to the fact that he had just agreed without groaning or anything of the like. She didn't comment on it though. Zoro tried to ignore Robin's know-it-all smile beside the redhead.

When the crew had left the galley with renewed mirth due to their slightly fuller servings, Sanji and Zoro set to work in their silent way of doing so, falling into a comfortable pace. Zoro realized Sanji's mind was far away from there, most likely still set on his mental inventory, and the swordsman decided to do something about it. If the cook was enough of an idiot as not to allow himself a moment of rest, Zoro would have to coerce him to it.

Eventually, they finished washing dishes and Zoro patted his hands dry, moving to where he knew the sake was stored but pausing before getting it to give the cook an interrogating look.

"Do I get booze as a reward for today's catch?"

He saw Sanji smirk as he started preparing things for inventory and took his personal notebook out, ready to set to work.

"Yes, you do. Only one bottle, though," Sanji conceded much to Zoro's delight. He felt a smile tug at his lips and happily took the bottle.

"You on watch?" Sanji asked.

"Yup."

"I'll be up there when I finish this, it'll be about the time my turn starts," Sanji informed.

Zoro frowned and readied himself to put his plan into action, trying to sound as casual as possible given the weird situation he was about to put both of them in.

"Well, I was hoping I could share a drink while I'm on watch so as to celebrate my amazing catch," he commented while shaking the bottle, only in a half joking tone. He hadn't actually sounded too gruff, so he mentally patted his back.

Sanji snorted and Zoro's brow automatically furrowed.

"I bet you weren't hoping to share it with me," the blond retorted matter-of-factly, not even sparing him more than a quick amused glance. Zoro scowled at him but managed to keep his cool.

"Actually, I hoped I wouldn't have to drag your scrawny ass up there to be honest," Zoro replied, fixing his gaze on Sanji.

He half expected Sanji to immediately ask him what the hell was that about, but the only thing he got as a no-nonsense look that almost successfully masked the surprise threatening to reign Sanji's face.

Well, awkward situation successfully set. Now Zoro could only hope Sanji wouldn't kick his ass. He wasn't sure if he'd actually drag the blonde up there for real if he said no, it would raise too many questions he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. But he really needed Sanji out of his worried little world for a while, so he hoped the cook wouldn't make much of a fuss of it.

In the end Sanji kind of frowned at him with a slightly pissed-off look.

"As if you could drag me up there," was his flat answer. Then his tone turned accusing. "And I'm not fucking scrawny! I believe we already discussed this topic!"

Zoro snickered at that, but kept his place leaning against the counter as he cautiously watched Sanji get two glasses anyways. When he turned to him though, he had a serious annoyed expression. Zoro raised an eyebrow and waited for the cook to speak.

"And don't think I don't know what you're doing."

Zoro watched him head to the galley door leaving his duties behind. He blinked at his back and started following him. Of course. Blondie wasn't exactly dumb and Zoro wasn't exactly subtle.

As the moonlight bathed the cook's lithe figure he realized he had gotten thinner over the last few days. That made something uncomfortable attack Zoro's chest, but he kept quiet about it. And nope, he was definitely _not_ checking his ass while he was at it. No way.

It was probably then when Zoro considered the fact that he had a _problem_. A major one for that matter.

Zoro kept himself from groaning and decided he'd question his own sanity later when he didn't have a suddenly distracting blonde near him. He didn't feel like dealing with it sober. He didn't feel like dealing with it at all. He didn't even want to wonder how he had ended up checking Sanji's ass. He specially didn't want to ask himself why he was _still_ staring. What. The. Fuck. He slapped himself and Sanji turned to give him a questioning glare. Zoro shrugged it off and gestured for Sanji to move on only to earn a look that clearly read 'you are an idiot'. Nice job, Zoro, giving the damn cook good material for mocking him.

But seriously, what the hell.

Zoro suddenly wondered if this had maybe been a really bad idea. Share a drink with the cook alone in the crow's nest? Unless they started a fight and went all out, that was sure to be uncomfortable as fuck, Zoro wasn't exactly a pro at chatting and Sanji was Sanji and was an asshole with him by default. Zoro tried to shoo away the image of the blonde freely laughing and smiling at him so that it didn't interrupt his line of thought by invalidating it. How had he reached the conclusion this would distract the cook from his problems? Because, unless Zoro received heavenly inspiration and started a hula hula dance, he really didn't have anything else in mind to distract him with.

But that wasn't the main problem and he knew it. He should have thought twice. His body and brain had recently associated to ruin his sanity around Sanji and even though he had tried to give it not much thought to none, he wasn't sure it was totally safe to be around the blonde more than necessary. No, scratch that, it definitely wasn't advisable for him to involve himself more with the cook's issues, that had proved to do stupid things to his brain and made him develop a pretty inconvenient obsession with him, always checking out what he was doing, always trying to glimpse if his mask was shattering or not so that he could do a quick fix. Not only did it annoy him to no end but it also made him do retarded things just as having the urge to hug him just like he had that same afternoon.

And the worst part was that Sanji wasn't an idiot and he totally knew the swordsman was at his back and Zoro's pride was beginning to be at stake. What truly puzzled him was the fact that Sanji hadn't kicked his ass or sent him to hell yet. It almost seemed like he was letting him care a bit, not without bitching and being the asshole he was supposed to be with him, of course, but he still let him be by his side more often than not, even if it was weird for both to have Zoro trying to 'subtly' cheer him up and ease the weight on his shoulders when Sanji was going through a rough time. Which made Zoro realize that Sanji must be really fucked inside to be allowing all of this coming from him, Zoro, the man he hated. Which meant he probably needed it. Which made Zoro stop questioning the whole situation and do what he was supposed to do as the crew's first mate, which was to take care of his nakama when they needed it, even if Sanji could manage himself.

Zoro finally pried his eye from Sanji's ass with another slap (this time a mental one so as not to embarrass himself further), his determination restored. So what if he cared for a nakama's well-being? Even if it was Sanji. The same man whose guts he claimed to hate. Well, he wasn't going to fall for his brain's tricks and traps, he was Roronoa Fucking Zoro and he owned his brain, his body and whatever bullshit they were trying to pull. He could and would easily dispatch them and go on with his nap-train-meditate-nap-fight-eat-nap-train-booze-nap routine without the blonde filling his thoughts once he had Sanji's problem solved. He only needed them to get to an inhabited island where they could restock their supplies and everything would get better. Once the problem was solved there would be no more headaches.

As for now he needed to get the blonde out of his worrying wearing-down spiral so that he could fucking chill once and for all, at least for a while. Zoro would make that sure. Last thing they needed right now was their cook getting sick.

Sanji started to nimbly climb to the crow's nest, bottle and glasses in one hand, and Zoro followed.

For all the determination he had just gathered, Zoro still had a weird nagging feeling about this whole situation, though.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: **Hiiiii guys! This one was quick to update too! Yay! This one is a bit longer, hehehe, tell me what you think.

I'll be gone for a few days so it will take a while longer to update the next one but I hope I'll be able to do so as soon as I'm back.

Thank you very much for your reviews! :D


End file.
